I Don't But I Will
by Farewell-to-the-broken
Summary: Being a royal isn't always fun and easy. Especially when you are in the middle of the war. Zuko and Katara have grown up together always bickering and butt heads on everything. They had no idea that 12 years ago their fathers had put them in an arranged marriage to help save the world. AU. ZUTARA. Rated M for later chapters.
1. Chapter 1

AUTHOR'S NOTE: I own nothing in the ATLA universe! Long time reader first time submitting my own writing so super nervous! Enjoy!

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Long ago the four nations lived as one. Balanced, happy, and worked together to help the fellow man regardless of his birth. That all changed when the Earth kingdom elected a new leader who decided that unless you were a bender, specifically an earth bender, you were beneath everyone else. A civil war began in the nation, elitist benders versus everyone else. Sadly the wrong side won and to show off the victory they decided to show other benders of their excellence. The world has been at war for 45 years.

Having grown up in fear the three remaining nations came together in an alliance. New Leaders were appointed and met to try and figure out a way to bring the world back to peace as the Avatar had been killed 8 months prior and the new avatar was just a crying infant somewhere in the air temples.

Ozai and Iroh attended for the Fire Nation, Gyatso and Pasang for the Air Temples, and Hakoda and Noa for the Water tribes. The men met for nearly 4 days before coming up with some plans to put into action. Each nation would provide a few of their benders to another nation for protection. Noa would send a master waterbender to train in the southern tribe. The final solution was to reinstate the value of unity amongst the nations and to do so the six men decided on two arranged marriages. Two of Ozai children, Hakoda's daughter, and Gyatso's pick of a new air nomad monk. The children would spend their summers together to create a unity amongst them all and to help a bond build between the four betrothed.

Ozai and Iroh offered the family beach home on Ember Island, it was both large enough to home everyone and also the furthest point from the earth kingdom. The leaders all left for their home on the fifth day so they could begin the plans. A month later Ozai, his wife, and their 3 children, Hakoda, wife and their 2 children, and Gyatso and his young monk all arrived to Ember Island.

Ozai's three children, Zuko, Azula, and Sozi were sitting in the courtyard with their mother, Ursa, and Hakoda's wife Kya and their two children Sokka and Katara. Kya was holding the little Nomad Aang. The three men stood together looking out to the women and the children.

"They are just children, I don't think we should tell them this young." Hakoda said looking to his three year old daughter Katara. He didn't want this life for her but he knew it was the only way to make sure she didn't grow up in a war the way he had from before he was born.

"I agree, Sozi is only 4 months old and won't understand for years, and Zuko is 5 and just a boy. Aang is merely and infant as well." Ozai said. He knew his wife was upset with the arrangement and that two of their children were apart of it.

"What if you waited until they were old enough to understand and then tell them before Zuko's 18th birthday?" Gyatso suggested

Before the men were able to respond one of Ozai servants was running up to them with something in her arms.

"Fire Lord, look what we found in the woods!" she moved the cloth she has been holding and revealed a little baby girl sound asleep. She couldn't have been much older than his daughter Sozi. Ursa had heard the servant and came running over to the girl.

"She was just in the woods? All alone? Who would do such a thing?" Ursa said taking the child into her arms.

"She has nothing with her, no note, no one around for miles." The servant told Ursa with a sad look on her face.

" Then we will keep her." Ursa said. Ozai looked at his wife like she was crazy.

" Darling, we can't just take in a stray child we know nothing about." The girl began to stir in Ursa's arms. Upon opening her eyes the adults gasped.

"She's blind! Ozai we can't not help her! She has jet black hair like our children, she will fit right in. I'm not letting you tell me otherwise." Ursa began to walk back over to the other children before her husband could respond.

The families continued this tradition of meeting at Ember Island so the children could play together and grow up as friends to insure the future of the nations would be peaceful. All three of Ozai's children discovered to be firebenders, his adopted child Toph, was an earthbender, adding a difficulty of her being blind Ozai sought out his rebel friend in the earth kingdom to help her learn basics. As she learned though she became so much more. She learned how to use her bending to help her see using the earth's vibrations. Hakoda's daughter was a waterbender and the little monk Aang was an airbender.

Growing up the children got along especially the boys as they were outnumbered. Sokka would feel left out in the afternoons when the rest of the children would meet with their bending masters, so he would watch his father with his swords and hand combat. As teens they began to bring friends. Zuko brought his friend Jet, a non-bender, son to one of the teachers at the local Academy. Azula brought her friend Ty-lee a nobleman's daughter with a knack for acrobatics. Aang's friend Teo and his older brother Haru came and Haru acted as Toph's instructor. Finally Katara's friend Suki would also come, as a Kyoshi warrior she would help Sokka with his hand to hand combat skills.

The three leaders were very pleased at the bonds the children were forming. Everything was going according to plan, well, minus Zuko and Katara. At the beginning the two always butt heads but as the got older it only got worse. It was as though they liked fighting with each other and annoying each other. When Katara was 5 and Zuko was 7, he put a fake dead fish in her bed, resulting in her putting sticky jam in his pants.

A year later when Katara developed her bending she water whipped Zuko making him fall into the courtyard water fountain, to retaliate, he set her doll on fire. As teens when Zuko was 15 and met a girl on the island and tried to flirt with her Katara froze his drink to his tongue. To pay her back Zuko set Katara's date to the Ember Island players pants on fire.

The summer had come for the leaders to tell the children of the arranged marriages. While they knew they were betrothed they did not know to whom they were promised. At dinner Ozai and Hakoda were nervous about telling the 17 and 15 year old the news. Sozi and Aang had developed small crushes on each other over the years so Ozai and Gyatso felt confident they would take the news well. Everyone was in the dining room ready to begin the meal. Ozai and Hakoda at each end with the boys on one side and the girls on the other.

As usual there was small conversation amongst the table. Katara was using her waterbending to move Zuko's tea away from his mouth leading Zuko to heat hers up until it boiled over.

" Everyone, I have an announcement" Ozai said clearing his throat to get the table of 18 to quiet down. " Today is the mark of Zuko's 17 1/2 birthday. Meaning in six months time he will be wed and begin his training to take my place as Fire Lord. As you all know, four of you were chosen to keep the peace of our nations in arranged marriages. Well today you will all meet your future spouses."

Katara looked to her father nervous, she never wanted to be married but she understood it was her duty to her people and the world to do so. Sozi, just 12 years old was incredibly nervous, she had been raised with all these people and was still so shy around them, she had no idea how she'd manage meeting someone new to marry one day. Zuko and Aang both had strong faces on trying to hide their nerves. While Aang was only 12 and wouldn't marry for another 6 years the idea still made his stomach jump.

" Sozi my little darling, your betrothed is of the Air Nation, you will stay in the palace at home until six months prior to his 18th birthday but will spend part of your time there to get accustomed to your future home and husband, Aang." Ozai smiled at his youngest child. Sozi and Aang looked to each other stunned at the news and both immediately turned red.

Katara smiled knowing they would both be okay as they had a very close bond and she knew they each secretly had a crush on the other. She took a deep breath and looked at her father waiting to hear of her news.

"Zuko, it is your duty to your people to show them unity and peace amongst not only themselves, but other nations, with that being said, you have been promised to a woman of the Water tribes."

Katara looked at her father wide eyed, putting the pieces together praying she was wrong.

Ozai took a deep breath. " Zuko you have been promised to Katara."

"WHAT" both teens yelled. " I can't marry her" "I can't marry him" Hakoda and Ozai each gave their children a look to sit down and be silent.

"Katara you will move into the Fire Nation Palace with Zuko in two days and begin planning your wedding and taking lessons to become the next Fire Lady, understood?" Hakoda said with a stern voice.

Katara crossed her arms, " Yes father" while she was incredibly angry about the situation she didn't dare upset her father. Hakoda gave his daughter a small smile knowing she was unhappy. Zuko looked to his mother who sat across from him. She was smiling at him with her typical warm hearted smile. She loved Katara so of course she wasn't going to take his side.

The dinner continued uneventful, Katara barely touched her food, to caught in her thoughts to focus on eating. As she looked around at everyones plates and noticed they were nearly done she stood and walked out of the room not able to stay and hide her feelings anymore. She began to run to the front door and down the steps to the beach. She needed to be in the water, she felt to hot and upset and needed the comfort of her element around her.

Back in the dining room everyone looked at the doorway Katara had walked out of.

"Father should I go after her?" Sokka asked looking to Hakoda.

"No son, let her go, she just got some rather large news and needs time." Hakoda responded sighing.

As dinner concluded, the girls all proceeded to the front door to find Katara knowing she was out in the ocean and the boys all went to the courtyard. Haru and Jet carried Teo down the few steps and they all walked over to the fountain and sat in their usual spots. It was silent for a moment as none of them knew how to respond to what had just happened. It was Sokka who broke the silence.

"Aang congrats on your engagement to Sozi, I bet you're relieved it's not some stranger with weird teeth, and you too Zuko, think about it, what if you were engaged to a girl with bad breath, or who had no personality."

" Yeah man, Katara is full of personality" Jet laughed elbowing his friend who smirked at him.

" Oh yes, so much personality that she hates me. Perfect."

" No no, Katara doesn't hate you. She hates hot food and birds. She only kinda dislikes you" Sokka said making himself laugh.

Zuko splashed Sokka in response, " So glad to know I rank above birds to my future wife." Wife. Katara. My Wife. " At least your future bride likes you Aang."

"Yeah.. I Guess so..." Aang's face went red but a smile was on his face. The talk of marriage left them as they began to chat about their activities tomorrow. Down at the beach the conversation was not as passive. Azula had lite the fire pit and the girls were all sitting around it. Ty-lee and Azula were talking amongst themselves while Toph and Sozi were building sand castles. Suki was sitting next to her friend waiting for her to say something.

"Katara you'll be okay, the Fire Nations not that bad, you'll have all of us, and Suki you can visit whenever you want. Don't just dwell on the negative it'll give your wrinkles" Azula said looking over to the distracted waterbender.

"You won't want wrinkles Katara!" Ty-lee said.

Katara gave her friends a defeated smile. She knew they were trying to help but she couldn't get her mind off the negatives. Suki grabbed her hand and squeezed it.

"I promise to see you whenever I can. I'm sure you can visit the South whenever you need to. It will be better than you think Katara." Suki tried to reassure her. Katara let out a frustrated sigh.

" You guys I get it, it won't be so bad but you're ignoring the fact that the 'negative' is the biggest part. I have to spend the rest of my life married to a man I will never love. A man who hates me, I will be forced to leave my home, my people, to live in a Nation with a pompous jerk whom i've hated since I was 5. Zuko and I will never be happy. I'll be required to be with him at every event, attend meetings by his side, and have his heirs. Raising children in a home of no love? What kind of mother does that?" By the end Katara had tears brimming at her eyes.

" I don't think you hate each other. I think you guys just like driving each other nuts because you know how to get reactions out of each other. You put all your energy in bugging each other. Just think what you could do together if you tried working as a team." Sozi said leaving her sand art to sit on a log by the fire.

"It could work out Katara. Mom and Dad had an arranged marriage and look at them. Dad would do anything to make our mother happy. It's super gross sometimes but they are happy even though they didn't find each other on their own they are soulmates." Toph said not looking at the group. "And like Azula said, you have all of us, so you won't have to spend every minute with Zuko. You can come see anyone of us to get a break. Ty-lee practically lives in the palace and Sozi won't be leaving for four more years so you can go talk to her about how excited she is to marry Aang." She ended with a smirk.

"I AM NOT" Sozi defended, making the other girls snicker.

"Oh come on Sozi, you've had a crush on Aang for years. We all know you were so excited when father said you'd be marrying him." Azula laughed.

"I don't have a crush on Aang. We are just friends. Of course i'm happy that i'm not marrying a stranger but I'm not excited it's Aang." Sozi was turning red each moment.

Before anyone could say anything else the boys were heard coming down the path.

" Ladies, anyone up for going into town?" Sokka asked walking immediately over to Suki.

"Sure, I could use a change of scenery." Toph joked still looking out toward the ocean aimlessly.

"Funny Toph, come on we are all going." Haru said walking over to his friend and student.

Everyone got up and started walking to the path that lead to the little town area on the island. Sokka and Suki lead the charge with Aang, Teo, Haru and Toph behind them. Jet was following close behind with Azula and Ty-lee at his sides. Sozi and Katara were toward the back with Zuko behind them. Katara could feel him looking at her making her incredibly nervous. Katara glanced behind her to sneak a peek at him. He was looking right at her with a look Katara couldn't figure out.

"I can catch up to the others if you wanted to talk to him." Sozi whispered to her.

"Nope I'm good. He's the last person I want to talk to tonight." Katara said facing forward following her friends. Once to into town the group split up into little groups. Katara went with Ty-lee and Azula to the shops. Ty-lee's love for shopping would be a nice distraction from her funk.

The girls went into a jewel shop. Anything shiny always caught Ty-lee's attention. Shiny and pink that is. Katara found some blue gems that reminded her of home. Ty-lee broke her thoughts.

"I wonder what the engagement necklace Zuko will make for you will look like?"

"Probably something incredibly thought out to the point it drives him mad because everything must be perfect, I'm sure once we get home mother and Uncle will have him speak with the royal designer to get it made at once." Azula said looking through some gold cuffs.

" I doubt it. He doesn't even like me. I'm sure it'll be something basic." Katara said in disbelief. She had wandered over to the necklaces. She caught her eye on one that had a silk red ribbon with a gold heart with metal swirling over a beautiful red ruby. Katara grabbed the necklace and held it up against her neck and looked in a mirror. The necklace was absolutely beautiful, the way it gleamed in the light made it look even more stunning.

"Katara that is gorgeous. You must get it!" Ty-lee yelled from the other side of the store.

"No it's okay. I don't have anything to go with it." Katara smiled softly and put the necklace back. She walked out the shop onto the street and walked over to the clothing shop across the street. If she was going to live in the Fire Nation she was going to need some clothes.

"Hey you didn't think you could come in here without us helping you did you?" Ty-lee called running out of the jewel shop over to the clothing store Azula close behind.

"Yeah, Katara who better to help you pick out some clothes then girls who actually live in the Fire Nation Capital. Of course once you move in the designer will custom make all your clothes but until he gets your measurements you'll need some clothes to hold you over. Ty-lee you go left I've got right meet back in twenty."

Both girls took off already grabbing clothes off of shelves and hangers. Katara laughed at her friend enthusiasm. She knew she wouldn't get a say in the items they had chosen especially since they thought she didn't dress feminine enough and also she really wasn't sure how much warmer it was in the capital. She decided to pick out a few of her own clothes however.

A little bit later Katara walked up to the merchant with a pair of workout pants, a cropped top that came above her belly button, a skirt, and a red bathing suit. She turned to see where her friends were and saw them coming each with a worker in tow arms beyond full of clothes.

"Oh my gosh, guys, how can we afford all this? And ship it all back? I can't possibly needs this much" Katara said in complete shock.

Azula walked up the merchant and set a card down on the counter. It had the family insignia on it letting the merchant she was a royal family member.

"Please load all this up and have it brought to our family home good sir." Azula said in a cocky voice then looked to Katara. " All set, let's go find the boys." And with that she left the store leaving Katara wide eyed. She would have to get used to the royal style of luxury the Fire Nation had versus the modest life of the water tribe.

A few hours later everyone was back on the beach. Tomorrow was their last full day on the island before they'd all have to return home to their normal lives. And where Katara would start her new life. They all sat in the sand looking up at the sky watching the fireworks. Katara sat on the edge of the water letting her feet get wet and trying to memorize this feeling of happiness with her friends.

Not long after she sat she noticed everyone was running around either in the water or dancing around the fire, all, expect Zuko who was walking toward her. He sat next to her looking up at the moon.

"Hi" Katara said softly.

Zuko looked to her finally after a moment.

"I hear my sister practically bought out a shop for you. Do you think it was wise to let her and Ty-lee loose in a clothing store?"

Katara smiled, " Do you really think I could've stopped them?"

Zuko smiled knowing it was a near impossible battle, " True, hopefully she was thinking about the person she was purchasing for and not just herself. You don't exactly fit her style."

Katara furrowed her brow, "What's that supposed to mean?"

" Please, look at my sister and look at you. She's all showy and likes getting attention." Zuko said confused at Katara's tone.

"So because i'm more conservative I don't like attention?" Katara said annoyed at him.

" Really? I try to say you don't dress the same as my sister and you want to start a fight? Yeah this will totally work." Zuko shook his head annoyed that they couldn't even have a peaceful conversation.

"I can be sexy too you know." Katara yelled at him. She stood up and began to walk away but not before moving a mini wave to soak Zuko, who let out an annoyed yell.

"You are an insufferable brat!" Zuko yelled to her as she walked away up the steps to the Fire Lord's Island home. She slammed the door and went upstairs to her room. Once in her room she walked to her side of the room she shared with Suki and noticed there was a box with a note on it. She walked over and opened the note.

 _Let's start new_.

Confused Katara opened the box and gasped upon seeing the necklace from the shop she was admiring. Katara instantly felt bad for her encounter with Zuko outside. She walked over to the mirror and put the necklace on. It was just as beautiful as she recalled from earlier. Katara walked over to Suki's side of the room and wrote a note quickly. She walked out of her room and ran down the hall quickly so she wouldn't get caught or change her mind. She opened the door to Zuko's room and placed the note on his bed and ran back out to her room for the night.

Twenty minutes later Zuko opened his door and grabbed the note opening to see its contents.

 _Thank you. I'm sorry. Let's try. Katara_.

Zuko sighed hoping they really could try to get along, put the note in his notebook by his bed and laid down to sleep after his eventful day.


	2. Chapter 2

Two uploads in one day. May not happen again but we will see. Pretty long, enjoy!

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It was the last day on Ember Island. Normally Katara would be packing her things to get ready to go home with her father and brother but now she was packing to get on a ship with her fiance to go the Fire nation. The Fire Nation. Katara loved spending her summers at Ember Island feeling the warmth of the sun was a nice change from the cold tundra of home. Home. Katara sighed thinking of not seeing her tribe everyday. She'd get to visit on occasion until Zuko became the Fire Lord then she'd only get to visit maybe once a year.

Her parents had always told her one day she'd meet her betrothed whom she was promised to when she was 3. Now she was 15, soon to be 16, and she wished she could go back and beg her father for someone else. Anyone else really. Getting to be with his family wasn't so bad but being with him everyday for the rest of her life sounded miserable.

"Hey Katara, I'm going for a walk with Suki to the village for one last shopping trip before we leave tomorrow, want anything?" Sokka said bursting into her looked at her big brother, memorizing his face and how goofy his smile was whenever he mentioned Suki's name and started to cry.

"Woah don't cry! You can have whatever you want! Just don't cry Katara, you know I'm not good with tears"

Katara laughed through her tears. "No you idiot I'm not crying about that, I just realized this is the last time I'll see you for awhile. I think I'm going to miss you." Sokka smiled and pulled his sister into a hug.

"Katara you'll see me in 6 months at your wedding. Besides do you really think dad would not come see you. You forget that we have a ship and can come see you too. You know as future chief of the southern tribe I can make those calls" Katara smiled and returned her brothers hug.

"Thanks meathead." Katara took a step back from her big brother. "Now go buy your girlfriend something pretty"

"She's not my girlfriend! " Sokka said then walked out of her room with a wave.

Katara decided to stop sulking and enjoy her last day with her friends. She went to go find Azula and Ty Lee. Walking down the hall she could hear the adults in the dining hall. They were talking about travel arrangements for tomorrow. Katara rolled her eyes at all of them. She went downstairs and headed outside for the beach. Ty Lee loved being on the beach so she knew that's where she'd find them. A moment later Katara could see everyone on the beach, Azula and Ty Lee were talking to Jet and Haru. Katara knew that Ty Lee had a huge crush on Haru and that Haru had a crush on her but he didn't want to act on it as he was there to be Toph's teacher. Azula normally tagged along to banter with Jet but they were both so stubborn it was usually just looks being exchanged.

On the rocks was Aang, Teo, and Toph. Aang was telling Teo what it felt like to use his air glider. Toph was laying on her rock that she'd created to sit on. Toph clearly was unenthused by the conversation but she hated hanging out with the girls. Finally Zuko and Sozi were sitting by the beach with their feet in the water. Sozi had her head resting on Zuko's arm. Zuko was an amazing big brother. Being the only boy of four kids did make him very good with girls. Everyone but Katara of course.

Katara didn't know where she fit in with all her friends so she decided to just go into the water. Being in the ocean made her feel so relaxed. She was the only waterbender back at home and sadly trying to put your bare feet in water in the southern tribe was not the smartest idea. Once by the water Katara took her wrap off and went waist deep into the ocean. She closed her eyes and dunked herself under. She created an air bubble so she could see and breath underwater. She looked around her. Seeing the sun through the top wave trying to remember everything. She knew the palace wasn't located close to water so she'd have to soak it all in now.

She popped up for air and felt the hot sun return to her skin. "Katara come play volleyball with us! Guys vs. Girls!" Aang yelled. Katara smiled and ran to her friends. Teo and Toph sat to the side as judges. Toph would use her earthbending to make sure no one stepped out of bounds and Teo would keep score and watch for illegal bending. Jet, Aang, Haru, and Zuko stood in a huddle on one side with Azula, Ty Lee, Sozi, and Katara were on the other.

The girls started with the ball and Ty Lee served with an aerobics move and the game began. Though they were all great friends they were also incredibly competitive. Instead of a nice light game it always turned to a strength and agility thing. It was game point for the girls but the guys were only one point behind. Everyone was panting from the game. Azula served the ball and Jet returned it. Sozi jumped to hit it back with a return spike from Haru and Aang. Sozi dove to save it, Ty Lee set the ball for Katara and she jumped and used all her strength to spike it, right at Zuko. Zuko saved the ball but all the guys ran to get it back over and missed. Girls won!

"Sorry boys, yet again we prove we are the better gender" Azula said blowing a kiss to Jet. He smirked and walked over to Zuko and Haru.

Aang came over to the girls, "Great game guys. That was a nice save on my spike Sozi." He blushed a little bit.

"Oh um thanks Aang." Sozi smiled back.

"We'll leave you two alone." Azula smiled as she Ty Lee and Katara all walked over to the water.

"Guys did you see Haru's chest? I think he's been working out more" Ty Lee said splashing her face with some water.

Katara smiled as she did the same.

"Why don't you just ask him out already?" Azula said laughing "You clearly want to since you couldn't focus everytime he spiked the ball at you."

"Whatever Azula, don't think I didn't see you ogling Jet's abs too" Ty lee said splashing her best friend.

"A princess does not oogle." She said looking very stern at her. Then she cracked a smile and started laughing and splashing her back. "We simply appreciate" She continued to splash both girls. Which then turned into a full out splash war. Out of nowhere she saw Azula being picked up by Jet and then thrown into the air landing into the water. Everyone had joined them by the water and a full out water fight had begun. Katara used her bending to freeze Jets foot to the ground.

He went to move and realized what had happened. "Hey that's cheating waterbender." He laughed resurfacing Azula splashed Jet with as much water as she could.

"Don't be jealous that we have a waterbender on our side, you have an airbender" Ty Lee said while splashing Haru.

Aang blew a gust of wind that created a wave that got everyone soaked. Katara turned and caught a glimpse of Zuko with Toph. She hated the water, she couldn't use her bending to see where she was or what was around her. Last time she had come out into the water with all of them was a few summers ago and she had almost drowned. Teo was with them too and she could see all of them talking. Why can't he be that kind to me?

Katara wasn't sure what came over her but she walked out of the water up to Zuko. "We need to talk."

Zuko looked up at her "Fine. You going to be okay for a minute?" He said looking at Toph.

"Yes Zuko, I'm blind not 2." Toph punched her big brothers shoulder and laughed.

Zuko smiled and kissed her forehead. He got up and followed Katara off to the cave in the cliff where they'd all hang out. Katara sat in her usual spot and Zuko sat across from her. They both looked around the cave avoiding eye contact. This was the first time they'd been alone since they found out the news of their engagement. Katara had this whole thing planned out but being in the cave alone with him her mind went blank.

"So. What do you want to talk about?" Zuko said breaking the silence. Katara fingered the necklace Zuko had given her last night. She let out a small laugh.

"What is so funny?" Zuko asked confused.

"Just realized i'm wearing all blue and a red necklace. Not the most uniform of colors." She said while still laughing.

Zuko looked at Katara and smiled, "Yeah red on you is something I never thought I'd see, though i'm glad you are wearing it"

"Well I guess you'll be seeing it forever now" Katara said slowing her laugh.

"Yeah, I guess I will. It's not your engagement one though" Zuko said sitting back with his arms stretched out over the sides of the couch Toph had made with the earth.

"I know...So we haven't exactly talked about this yet, you know besides me walking out at dinner yesterday." Katara said crossing her legs on her seat. She had left her cover on the beach and the wind was making it a little chilly in the cave.

"Yeah I kinda left right after you did. I always knew I was going to be upset when I found out who I'd marry not because it was you or anyone else just that I didn't get to decide for myself."

"Yeah I know what you mean. When I was little I thought it was such a great gift and honor to be in an arranged marriage but as I got older I realized how much it would suck. Never getting to act upon feeling as a young teen, never getting to learn how to flirt or being wooed or taken out on dates."

"You know i'm not a monster right, I could take you on dates." Zuko defended.

"You are going to take me out on dates?" Katara said raising an eyebrow at Zuko.

"I could!" Zuko yelled back, "I just need to learn what you like and if we could get along for an actual date."

"You've known me for 13 years and you don't know what I like?" Katara yelled back "Of course not you self absorbed prince."

"Name one thing I like, bratty princess." Zuko yelled.

"Turtle Ducks, swords, having tea with Iroh" Katara stood up and crossed her arms.

"Polar Bear dogs, sea prunes, being in the ocean,"Zuko stood up and yelled back.

"Wow a waterbender who likes being in water, what a fantastic observation Zuko."

"Oh but saying I like swords isn't obvious? I've been training with them for 5 years of course I like them." Zuko raised him arms.

"Wow ten minutes alone and you're already fighting" Jet said walking in the cave with everyone behind him. "You know as future husband and wife you'd think you'd try not to rip each others heads off."

Azula punched the air to start the fire in the center of their hangout. "Alright enough fighting you two you have forever now to do that. It's our last night let's enjoy it shall we?"

Everyone sat in there normal spots, Zuko, Jet and Aang on the bigger couch, Haru and Ty Lee on the one next to that Sokka and Suki's spot was empty, followed by the empty spot for Teo and finally Toph, Sozi, and Katara on their couch. They all stayed in the cave chatting and talking over things they did that summer and how they'd all keep in touch while they were away.

The Fire Nation was sending three ships to pick everyone up. On the first ship was the Fire Lord and Ursa and the servants. The second ship was for Zuko, Azula, Ty Lee, Sozi, Toph, Uncle Iroh and Katara. The third ship was for everyones stuff. Haru and Teo were going with Aang and his parents to the Air temple to make adjustments on Teo's wheelchair before returning to the fire nation. Jet was staying on the Island for an extra week before returning with the final moving ship. Suki and Sokka were going to the water tribes with Katara's parents.

"Is this our last summer here?" Ty Lee asked with sadness in her voice.

"Why would you say that?" Sozi asked.

"Because this time next year Zuko and Katara will be married, you'll be engaged to Aang and spending more time with him and who knows what Sokka and Suki will be doing then. Everything will change." She said looking around the room.

"I will be here next year." Suki answered. Her and Sokka walked into the cave holding hands.

"We both will be here. It's tradition. We've been doing this forever. Regardless of the new changes we shouldn't stop." Sokka said sitting in his usual spot pulling down Suki into his lap.

"Yeah who knows maybe these two will be getting along next year." Haru laughed.

"Maybe Katara will be pregnant with the new Fire baby" Jet joked. Katara threw her marshmallow at him and everyone laughed even Katara.

"Yes well to do that they'll have to really like each other" Toph smirked.

"EW!" Can we NOT talk about my sister like that!" Sokka yelled while covering Suki's ears. With that the night finally started to feel normal. How it did every year when summer came to a close.

* * *

"Everyone follow me for your rooms" Iroh said once everyone was on the ship. Katara had tried to hold onto her family for as long as she could. She'd never lived away from them before. She tried not to cry but it wasn't easy. She followed Iroh and the others down into the ship.

"Azula and Ty lee you will be the room on the left Sozi and Toph the room on the right and down the hall I will be on the left and Zuko and Katara on the right. I will be in my room having my tea if anyone needs me otherwise I will see you all at dinner." With that everyone parted into their rooms to settle and unpack as it took a full week to get back to the main lands by ship.

"I'm sorry did you say me and Zuko? We have to share a room?" Katara asked

"Well of course dear, you are a promised couple now. Behave as my room is right across the hall." Iroh said with his big belly laugh.

Katara looked at Zuko with dread. They walked down to their door and opened it. Inside were two dressers, a private bathroom, and one king sized bed with the fire nation symbol on a flag above it.

"You have got to be kidding me" Zuko said when he realized it was only one bed. "Father did this on purpose."

"Stay on your side" Katara rolled her eyes. She walked over to what she was claiming as her side. She started putting some stuff away but didn't want to unpack to much since it wouldn't be that long of a trip. She was glad she had packed her less warm clothing as it was pretty warm on the ship since the room had no windows to let in air.

"Don't worry I will." Zuko said from his side. Katara decided to go to see Sozi and Toph in their room. Katara left the room without even looking at Zuko. She shut the door and headed down the hall. She knocked on the door until she heard the okay to come in. She opened the door and saw Toph in her bed and Sozi sitting next to her.

"Hey Katara" Sozi said.

"Ah Katara, thought you were Zuko checking in on us. AGAIN." Toph said sitting up with the help of her sister.

"We just got on the boat what do you mean again?" Katara said.

" Zuko is a little overprotective, so he likes to check on Toph constantly because she cant see when we are on the boat. And he checked on me all day yesterday and today before we got on about Aang." Sozi answered.

"Oh is that what you two were talking about on the beach?" Katara asked.

"Yeah, Aang was acting weird and wasn't really talking to me and I thought it was my fault so Zuko sat and talked to me." Sozi smiled.

"That must be nice whenever Zuko talks to me we fight." Katara said sitting on the bed across from them.

"I wish we fought sometimes. His constant checking on me is tedious. I know he loves me and wants to make sure i'm okay but it's incredibly overbearing. Mom and dad don't even dote on me that much." Toph said.

"So how is everything with Aang I saw you guys hug before he left on Appa?" Katara asked.

"Good, he said he was just trying to process the news of being engaged to me. He had the same thought I did that it'd be some random noble from the earth kingdom not a childhood friend." Sozi said then touched her necklace with a smile.

"I'm glad you two are going to be together. I think your marriage is going to be great. I mean you're already friends."Katara started.

"Yeah and they have huge crushes on each other" Toph smirked.

"You are so lucky you are fully blind right now. " Sozi said sticking her tongue out at her sister.

"Yeah so lucky, I can't wait to be home so I can earthbend again. Why must boats be made of metal?"

"Well if they were rock we'd sink." Katara said laughing. "So what's there to do on this ship?"

"Dad wants us to train 4 hours a day, but other than that we can stare at the ocean, have tea with uncle, annoy Zuko, and eat." Sozi laughed.

"You mean you guys have to train, Dad wants me to meditate with Uncle while you guys train." Toph said sighing extra loud.

"I'll meditate with you for a little Toph. I'm not as good as Iroh but I can try." Katara said.

"No one is as good as Uncle, I'm pretty sure he's actually sleeping." Sozi said making everyone laugh.

There was a knock at the door, "Training time ladies." Azula said from the other side of the door.

"Coming" the three of them yelled back.

The girls all got up and walked out the door. When she opened the door, Katara nearly walked right into Zuko.

"Sorry, I was coming to get Toph." He said to Katara.

"I swear to god if you think you are going to carry me all week I will bury you when we get home" Toph said from her bed.

Sozi started laughing. Katara moved to the side so Zuko could get past her. He walked right to Toph's bed and scooped her up, sheet and all.

"ZUKO PUT ME DOWN" Toph yelled.

"Toph, stop fighting it and let me bring you upstairs so you don't hurt yourself." Zuko said calmly.

"You know I think i'd rather be in bed then be the pathetic little girl being carried by her big brother." Toph said pouting in his arms.

"You aren't pathetic. No one will see you but us. No one is even upstairs. It's just us and Uncle today. So quit pouting or you can find your own way to dinner tonight." Zuko said as he left the room with Toph still in his arms. She responded but Katara couldn't make out what she said. She followed them back up to the top deck. Ty lee was strecthing while Azula was walking through a move while Iroh watched over her. Zuko sat Toph down on a pillow and bent down to talk to her. Sozi went over to her uncle to start going through a move with Azula. Katara decided to go to the side of the boat and grabbed some water from the ocean.

"Sozi and Azula I will have you two do a little spar, Katara and Zuko you too, NO advanced moves. Toph begin your meditation." Iroh said. Toph sighed deeply then crossed her legs and closed her eyes. Sozi and Azula positioned on one side of the ship and Katara walked over to line up with Zuko on the other. Katara used the water to create a circle around her with water tentacles coming out of it. Zuko got into his stance.

"Begin" Iroh yelled. Zuko and Azula immediately went on the offensive and both punched fire at Sozi and Katara. Katara immediately used a tentacle to defuse the fireball and sent a wave toward Zuko. He jumped to avoid it. When he landed back on the deck it was still wet so Katara blew air to freeze his feet down. Zuko saw the move and quickly started to thaw his feet before Katara could throw a new attack. Sozi and Azula's spar ended within a few minutes with Azula dominating. She truly was a prodigy. When they finished they moved to sit with Toph and Uncle to watch Katara and Zuko.

They were incredibly evenly matched. For every attack there was a great defensive move with a quick counter attack. What felt like an hour later both teens were sweating and panting.

"Draw" Iroh yelled. Katara looked at Zuko who was flushed and sweating, he removed his shirt so his toned stomach was exposed. Katara used her bending to grab some drinking water and gulped down the cool liquid. She removed her midriff so she was just in her bindings and her workout pants. She wished she was in the water to cool down.

"Very well done you two. I could only imagine what you'd be like going full out." Iroh smiled.

"I'd win." Katara smiled.

"Please, you have to be around your element, I create mine from within. If we weren't by the ocean you'd be on your ass." Zuko said with his back to her.

Katara started fuming. "Oh yeah?" Katara used a waterwhip to trip Zuko. He landed right on his ass. "Look who's flat on their ass now Prince." Zuko spun on his arm shooting flames from his feet. Katara used her water to stop it from hitting her. Immediately the were back in combat so close that it was more hand to hand then a bending spar.

"Enough" Iroh said getting in between them and grabbing Zuko's foot and pushing him back while grabbing Katara's fist and holding her in place. Zuko fell on the ground and Katara struggled to get her hand back. Iroh's face was incredibly serious. "You are keeping your skills sharp not attacking each other for dominance, do you forget who the real enemy is?" He yelled at them. Katara looked over at Toph as did Zuko and then he sighed, "Yes Uncle"

"That's enough sparring for you two today Azula and Zuko will spar Katara do you mind working with Sozi on her defense please."

"Yes sir." Katara said. Both teens eyes were on Toph. She had been thrown away as a baby for her blindness by the Earth Kingdom. Zuko and Katara were training to defend their homes, themselves, and even her. Their egos needed to be put aside. Though Toph was an amazing bender and was more than capable of taking care of herself it was known in some Earth kingdom camps her capabilities with seeing using her bending and they wanted to use her for her power. When they were little they'd been forced to leave the Island to the air temples because raiders had attacked when Toph was 7 and they saw her using her bending.

The three ships they were using to go home were all heavily armed with guards. They didn't want to risk her safety or the royal families. Sozi walked over to Katara. She gave her a small smile before she walked over to where Zuko once was and got in a stance. Katara summoned more water and began throwing small attacks as a warm up. Sozi was a good fighter. She didn't really like fighting the way Azula did. As the youngest she didn't have as much pressure to be the best.

They continued switching off partners for the remainder of training. Katara did some hand to hand combat with Ty Lee when Iroh pulled the fire benders away for meditation. When they were done Katara bowed to Iroh, grabbed her shirt, and headed to her room for a shower. She could feel someone behind her. The mirror at the end of the hall revealed it to be Zuko.

"I have dibs on the shower" Katara said as she opened the bedroom door. Zuko followed her in and shut the door behind them.

"Can I just wash my face in the sink real quick?" Zuko asked. Katara turned to look at him, she was going to argue but she saw he had his shirt to his scarred eye. Katara knew when Zuko sweat too much parts of his scar got irritated. She remembered the summer Azula discovered her bending. To surprise everyone she ran out in the middle of Zuko's training to try and imitate his move but because she had no control it completely backfired and left Zuko scarred. Katara had felt so bad a couple years later when she had mastered healing and wondered if she would have been able to heal him.

"Yeah go ahead."

"We could just shower together. You know get used to seeing each other naked." Zuko laughed.

"You're lucky your scar hurts, go wash your face before I drown you in the ocean." Katara said tying her hair up to get it off her neck.

"Hey I was just trying to save some water. The offer still stands." Zuko said walking into the bathroom leaving the door open.

"Are you hitting on me? Since when do you hit on me?" Katara said finding some clean clothes to change into after her shower.

"Well we are promised to each other, thought I'd try it out. Feels weird." Zuko looked at her and actually gave her what looked like a smile.

"Yeah if you could just continue to be yourself that'd be preferable. This situation is weird enough." Katara said giving him a small smile back. Zuko finished up cleaning his scar and then walked out of the bathroom. He grabbed a pair of pants and looked at Katara.

"Are you going to go in there soon? I'd like to change out of these sweaty pants. Unless of course you want me to change in front of you?" Now he was definitely smirking at her.

"Okay you clearly hit your head in practice today. Maybe you should see the ship nurse." Katara said as she grabbed her clothes and headed for the bathroom. After her shower Katara felt refreshed and slightly cooled. The outfit she changed into showed a lot of skin but it was really hot today. She wore her favorite red one shoulder midriff and a mini red skirt with a short sewed in that Ty Lee had given her last summer.

She walked out into her room and saw Zuko sitting on the bed wearing a pant that went to about mid calf and no shirt. He was reading a book but when she was in the room she noticed he looked up and his eyes were glued to her legs for a moment before returning his eyes to his book. She felt a little self conscious about her skirt choice now but it was so hot it countered that. She went to her bag to grab her upper arm bracelets and one regular gold bracelet.

She looked in the mirror and saw herself. She fit the part of Fire Nation with the clothes, but, her skin was significantly darker than Zukos. She wondered if she would ever feel like she belonged here. Dinner wasn't for another hour so she could either go find one of the girls or hang out in her room with Zuko. She knew she'd always have a place with her friends but with her soon to be husband she wasn't so sure.

"You can join me if you want, I won't hit on you. Though you do look nice." Zuko said without looking away from his book.

"I thought we agreed you hitting on me was creepy." Katara said looking for a book on Zuko's dresser.

"We did, I thought I'd give it another try." Zuko said finally looking up at her. "But I wasn't really hitting on you. Your legs do look nice and I thought I'd pay you a compliment to try and call a truce."

"I see . Well then Thank you. Your abs look very nice as well." Katara said sitting on the bed next to him with her own book.

"I know. Very predictable book choice." Zuko said flipping the page in his book.

"How so?" Katara said defensively.

"The painted lady? You've heard that story a hundred times." Zuko said finally laying his book on his lap to look at her. "Why don't you try something else?"

"Because I love this story and dinner is soon so I don't want to start anything new and get into it." Katara said putting her book up to read.

Zuko shook his head and started reading again.

About an hour later a knock was at the door from a servant letting them know the meal was ready. Zuko threw on a silk shirt and his pointed boots. Katara put on her strapped flats and started for the door but stopped when she felt a hand grab her wrist. She turned straight into Zuko's chest.

"What?" she asked confused.

"You are not going out there like that" Zuko said still holding her uncomfortably close.

"Like what!" Katara yelled back trying to get her arm back.

"You are showing way to much skin. Do you have any idea what the men on this ship will think of you?" Zuko said letting her go but blocking the door. "We are not leaving until you put on pants."

Katara looked at him like he had 6 heads. "Are you serious?"

"I'm extremely serious." Zuko said.

"Fine!" Katara yelled she found a pair of maroon airy capri pants. She looked Zuko dead in the eye then took her skirt off right in front of him. Standing in only her black panties she watched as Zuko's face went completely red. He continued to look her dead in the eye as she put the pants on.

"Ready to go, master?" Katara said crossing her arms.

"You are such a child." Zuko said opening the door.

"Well if you are going to treat me like a slave who needs to obey you I might as well act the part." Katara said walking past him.

"How am I treating you like a slave, I was trying to help you. The men on the ships go to whore houses everytime we stop. Do you really think they aren't going to stare at you the entire meal."

"Fine, thanks for the rescue, you happy?" Katara said turning to look at him in the hall right before the door to the dining room. Zuko leaned in close so his mouth was right next to Katara's ear.

"Keep showing me those panties and I will be. Show anyone else and I won't be" Zuko pulled back and smirked. Katara stared at him as he walked into the hall. WHAT THE HELL WAS THAT.


	3. Chapter 3

Little shorter this time, hope you are all enjoying it so far! I have the next couple of chapters already done so i'll try to edit and put one out each day :)

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After dinner Katara went straight to her room to change for bed. She was exhausted from training and hadn't slept well the night before. She grabbed a silk robe and the thinnest pair of bindings to sleep in. She changed in the bathroom quickly before Zuko would get back and do something annoying or even hit on her again.

Once in the room she blew out all the candles on her side and crawled into bed. She noticed the bed was more plush than those on her fathers ship. Again the luxury of the fire nation would take some getting used to. She was mostly asleep when she thought she heard the door open to the room.

Zuko walked in and saw Katara on the bed. It was the weirdest thing to see a woman in his bed for the first time. She wore a red silk robe that was falling open showing her bindings underneath which were not very effective in covering her. He could see her hip bone and the under curve of her breasts and two peaks poking through the material. Zuko looked away quickly not wanting to stare at her.

He took a deep breath to calm himself then changed into a light pair of pants and removed his shoes and shirt and crawled into bed beside her being careful not to cross the middle and face the other way. Zuko had no idea what had come over him before dinner when he made the comment about Katara's panties.

He wasn't naive to her curves and her body but he also wasn't the kind of guy to make comments like that. He didn't know how he'd be able to sleep with Katara next to him practically naked. He rolled over onto his back and began breathing trying to meditate with the remaining lit candles in the room.

Katara woke up to the feeling of being warm. Not an unpleasant warm more of a soothing warm. As she began to stir she noticed a pressure around her stomach. Her eyes slowly fluttered open and saw Zuko's arm was draped over her and his body was pressed against her back. He was still asleep as Katara could feel his light breath against the back of her neck.

"I said stay on your side!" Katara yelped moving her body as far away from Zuko causing him to wake up in a haze.

"I.. What.. Sorry.." Zuko turned over onto his back and fell right back asleep.

Katara watched him for a moment to make sure he was really asleep and then she laid back down still a little tired. She pulled the covers over herself and noticed a drastic change to the temperature. She felt cool, Fire Nation nights always got very cool but when you are on a ship in the middle of the ocean the wind makes it even cooler. Katara closed her eyes and tried to fall back asleep until breakfast.

 _.KNOCK_

Both teens woke hours later to the sound of knocking on the door.

"Breakfast will be ready in ten you guys" Azula's voice called.

The teens yet again were wrapped around each other only this time Katara was cuddled into Zuko's back with her legs intertwined into Zuko's.

"Umm Katara, you want to let go?" Zuko said in a calm voice but inside he was freaking out hoping she hadn't noticed his pants were a little tight.

Katara jumped away from him falling off the bed .

"Katara! Are you okay?" Zuko said sitting up using the blanket to cover his lower half.

Katara stood up hiding her face completely embarrassed. "Yup, great. Thanks for asking." Katara grabbed a quick outfit and ran into the bathroom to change. She had a lower hanging shirt to wear and a long skirt with leggings. Zuko wouldn't be able to complain about her outfit today. She emerged from the bathroom and Zuko was putting on his shoes. Katara slipped on her flats and the two started toward the the dining area not speaking a word.

Everyone was already there waiting for them so they could start. Toph and Azula bickered back and forth mostly about Toph's hygiene and just because she's an earthbender doesn't mean she needs to be dirty. Making Iroh step in to settle the argument. Sozi offered to help her bathe knowing she had a fear of being on the boat and water. Toph grumbled an acceptance.

"Training will begin in a hour I expect you all upstairs in better moods." Iroh stated before he left the room.

Katara went upstairs instead of to her room, still avoiding Zuko. She walked to the side of the ship and looked down at the water. She loved the water up here. She could just jump into and feel it on her skin unlike at home where she would freeze.

"You know we have a few ponds around the Palace and there's a lake on the training grounds." Zuko said from behind her.

Katara jumped and turned to look at him.

"Really? I thought the palace was at the base of a volcano?" Katara said crossing her arms.

" It is but father had an earthbender and a waterbender make the grounds more appealing. He knew my mother loved animals so he made sure there was a place for them to live on the grounds. Turtle ducks in the center garden, koi, anything she wanted." Zuko walked over to the side of the ship next to Katara and looked out at the ocean.

Katara smiled. While Ozai seemed like a serious man, it was very obvious he loved his wife. If she wanted the sun he'd find a way to get it for her. They truly were a perfect match like the girls had said. Katara wondered if there wasn't an arranged marriage if they still would've found each other.

"Was your mother of the court or council?" Katara asked.

"No, why?" Zuko asked looking at Katara.

"How did your grandfather select her for the arranged marriage?"

"He didn't, the were promised before they were even born. My great grandfather Sozin was best friends with Avatar Roku. They vowed to have their lines together but each only had sons, so the following generation my mom was born and sworn to my father because my uncle was older and had already been promised to my aunt."

"Wait, your great grandfather was Avatar Roku?" Katara said standing straight and looking right at him.

"Yes." Zuko said almost sad.

"Is that a bad thing? You don't sound very excited." Katara was surprised by his tone.

"I was the first in his line to be a bender. My mother and her parents were non benders. There was a lot of pressure on me, I didn't develop until I was 7 which was much later than Azula was. I need to be a master before I take my fathers place as Fire Lord." Zuko took his shirt off, making Katara blush thinking about this morning.

"Want to spar with me?" Zuko asked.

 _So he's going to ignore this morning too. Good_. "Sure, i'll be right back." Katara ran to their room to change into her work out clothes. She decided to just wear bindings over her breasts and the pair of shorts Azula had bought her in the village. They were incredibly short, not what Katara was used to, it felt as though her butt was hanging out. She threw on her flats to just go upstairs and headed back to the deck.

Once up there she kicked off her flats and pulled water from the ocean to her and surrounded her arms with her elements like two large tentacles. She took a deep breath with her eyes closed to focus. Then she slowly breathed out and got into stance facing Zuko on the opposite side. She threw the first punch and the spar began. With Iroh not up watching them they both used slightly more advanced skills.

For every attack there was a perfect defense. It was more of a dance than a spar. Zuko would leap into the air and kick out a flame and Katara would roll underneath him throwing a whip at his foot to throw him off. They continued this until Zuko tried doing a move Katara knew he hadn't quiet mastered, he didn't land correctly and ended up hitting his knee on the deck hard.

"Fuck." Zuko yelled then punched the ground. Katara ran over to him.

"Are you okay? Did you break it?"

"I'm fine." Zuko said being stubborn tried to get up but his knee was swollen and he fell right back down.

"Stop being stupid." Katara put her hand on his chest and pushed him back down, she drew fresh water and put it directly on his knee.

"It's fine Katara you don't have to..."

"Shut up." Katara focused on healing, it wasn't broken but he definitely bruised it causing it to swell which would've taken a couple days to go down. After a moment or two she was done and she threw the water back into the ocean.

Zuko stood up and moved his leg around.

"Thank you." He said before walking over to the barrel of drinking water. Katara rolled her eyes and followed him. They each drank quietly waiting for the others to come up on deck. Katara noticed Zuko eyeing her legs again.

"Seriously? You're staring at my legs again? What is with you?" Katara said sipping her water.

"Just admiring." Zuko chuckled. He grabbed a dry cloth and dabbed his scar. "Don't wear such short shorts and I won't stare."

"We just did an extra half hour of training on top of the four hours we are about to do in the hot sun. Anything longer and i'd be uncomfortable. You aren't wearing a shirt and I don't stare at you."

"No, you just cuddle into me while you sleep." Zuko gave her a small smirk and walked over to his sisters and Uncle who were coming up to the deck. Katara's entire face turned red and she faced the barrel again to hide it. Why did I do that? I don't even remember turning over! Katara broke her thoughts at the sound of Iroh's voice.

" Alright switching up pairs today, Katara and Azula, Zuko and Ty-lee. Sozi I will have you work on steps and Toph..."

"Sit on this pillow and pretend I know how to meditate. Yeah I know Uncle." Toph said with a large sigh.

Iroh smiled at the girl and looked to the four teens, "Begin"

Azula immediately sent an attack toward Katara. After years of watching her Katara knew that Azula was all offense. She was a power bender making her greatest weakness patience. Katara just had to wait for the right moment when Azula showed a sign of being tired to make her own attack.

Katara defended every single attack perfectly. Azula had a lot of signature moves that she did well that she tended to favor them. Katara was able to tell what she would do before she even did it. Using this to her advantage Katara waited until she knew Azula would do her spinning kick and then sent a whip to grab Azula's foot and throw her off making her land on her butt before Katara froze the ground and ran up to Azula for the tag.

Zuko and Ty-lee were still going so Azula and Katara sat next to Toph and watched. Ty-lee moved so gracefully you wouldn't know she was fighting. As a chi blocker she was able to level the playing field if she were to fight a bender. Zuko was able to keep up but the fluidity of Ty-lee made her hard to catch and keep up with. A moment later Zuko was on his back with Ty-lee standing over him with one of her feet hovering over his neck.

"Great job everyone. Let's switch up again. Katara and Ty-lee, Zuko and Sozi, and Azula let's start working on your new skill set." Iroh said walking over to the end of the ship to get some extra room for his practice with Azula. The group continued to switch back and forth for the remaining couple hours of training. Katara and Zuko would occasionally sneak in some harder moves getting bored of the light training resulting in a yell from Iroh.

After practice everyone retreated to their rooms to clean up. Katara let Zuko shower first so that she could stretch out. She was a little sore from her last fight with Ty-lee. She was a huge challenge to face. Katara wasn't a great hand to hand fighter and she wanted to make sure she didn't solely rely on her bending. Zuko had his swords and was a fairly good hand to hand fighter. Azula trained with Ty-lee often so was much better than she was too.

Zuko emerged from the bathroom in just a towel hanging very low on his hips. Katara looked away and grabbed a cropped one shoulder tank, a pair of maroon pants and some undergarments. She headed for the shower and almost made it until Zuko made a comment.

"You know you wear some sexy panties for someone who isn't' showing them to anyone." Katara turned to look at him but he was looking in his dresser looking for clothes. Instead she let out a loud annoyed sigh and went into the bathroom.

Once done Katara took her time getting ready hoping Zuko would leave for lunch without her so she could be alone from annoying comments. Sadly once she left the room she saw Zuko on the bed reading the same book as the day before. He looked up and smiled at her before returning his eyes to his book.

"Shame, was hoping you'd skip the pants."

"Why are you hitting on me, it's weird stop." Katara said annoyed as she put a bracelet on.

"Because it annoys you." Zuko put his book down and stood, " Ready to go to lunch?" Katara nodded and walked out the door as Zuko opened it for her. They walked down the hall and went down the flight of stairs to the dining area. Everyone was already in there and the food was being set on the table. Zuko and Katara sat and waited until all the food was done before they dug in with everyone else.

"We are porting tonight, you may all wander around for two hours before we take off again if you so choose." Iroh said whilst sipping his tea.

"LAND" Toph said extremely excited making everyone laugh. " How long before we arrive Uncle?"

"We should be arriving in two hours or so." Iroh replied with a smile.

Katara was happy for the chance to see something other than a metal wall. She planned on avoiding Zuko all night. Even if it meant looking around on her own.

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Reviews are like cookies, can never have to many :) Also feedback is incredibly helpful!


	4. Chapter 4

Hello all, here's the next chapter! You know the deal I don't own anything besides the plot and my one OC Little miss Sozi.

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Katara laid in bed staring at the ceiling. Zuko had fallen asleep hours ago and Katara was alone with her thoughts. The village had been fun. There had been street performers in the town square which of course Ty-lee dragged everyone to. They looked around a couple shops and Zuko had bought Katara another necklace, this one was all blue with a white gem on either side of the main stone. This transition was so awkward and hard. She knew she should start trying to get along with him but he always put her on edge knowing exactly what to say to piss her off.

Katara sat up and grabbed the Painted Lady book off the shelf. She figured reading would help slow down her mind and help her fall asleep. Not many pages in the boat rocked, hard. Zuko immediately woke up and sat up.

Katara looked at him and then felt the boat rock again followed by yells from the top deck.

"What the hell is that?" Katara asked freaked out. Zuko put his finger up to his lips telling Katara to be silent. He walked to the door and placed his good ear against it. Katara watched waiting for him to say something. All of a sudden Zuko flew the door open and ran out. Katara saw Iroh's door was wide open as well and she got up and ran to the door. Zuko was going into Sozi and Toph's room.

"Go to my room now, stay with Katara and don't make a sound." She could hear Zuko saying as she saw him emerge with Toph in his arms and Sozi right next to him. He ran down to their door and put Toph on their bed.

"Katara I need you to protect them, I'm going to go get Azula and Ty-lee. Don't leave them alone." Zuko said in a slight panic. Katara grabbed his arm in the hall and whispered carefully so the girls wouldn't hear.

"Zuko what is going on?"

"Earth Kingdom raid." Zuko said then turned running down to his other sister's room. Katara looked up to the ceiling. She could hear the banging and yelling. She turned and looked at a scared pair of 12 year olds holding each other.

"Guys it'll be okay I won't let anything happen to us." Katara said sitting on the bed with them. The door opened and Ty-lee walked in crying. " Ty lee what's wrong? Where is Azula?"

"I.. don't know... she wasn't in the room when I woke up. Next thing I knew Zuko was sending me down here." Ty lee said in between sobs. The girls all heard a scream.

"Ty lee stay with the girls. Lock the door behind me and do not open this door no matter what. Put a dresser in front of it if you must." Katara said hugging her friend and running out the door.

She ran down the hall to the stairs she knew led up the deck. Before she could even make it up a step someone grabbed her arm. She was pulled under the steps. She was met face to face with Zuko.

"What are you doing? I told you to stay in the room." Zuko whisphered.

"I heard Azula scream. Where is she?" Katara said back.

"She's up there, she must of followed Uncle to help fight, they grabbed her." Zuko said with an angry face.

"Then let's get her." Katara said standing up. Zuko grabbed her arm.

"I'm working on it. But we can't just run up there without a plan. Uncle is up there trying to fight them off."

"Do they know I'm on the ship?" Katara asked.

"No, they shouldn't." Zuko said confused " What does that matter they are after Toph not you."

Katara rolled her eyes. " I'll yell at you for that later, I have a plan come on." Katara said moving around the steps and creeping up just enough so she could see what was happening on deck. Zuko followed closely behind. They could see the guards trying to fight off the fleet of Earth kingdom fighters.

Katara looked around deck and saw Iroh was attacking a large group of men. Behind them was two men holding an unconscious princess. Katara pointed to show Zuko what she saw. He looked and she could immediately see his face change over to raging anger. Katara put her arms out and closed her eyes to focus on the water. A moment later three of the men that Iroh had been fighting were water whipped off the ship. The remaining men looked around.

"Enough games." A large man in deep emerald greens walked off the wood plank, connecting the two ships, onto the deck. He walked over to the men holding Azula, grabbed her by her hair pulling her head up and held a dagger to her neck.

"Give us your bender, and we will go." He said.

Iroh looked at the man " I know not what you speak, It is only myself and these men on the ship."

"Don't play dumb with me General. My men saw the earth girl in the village. She belongs with her people. Not slumming with some fire benders. Or the water bender you have hiding somewhere like a coward."

Katara's blood boiled. Coward. I'll show you. The moon was full tonight and Katara could feel the power building in her. She moved into a stance she hadn't much used as she didn't feel comfortable doing this unless it was in extreme circumstances. She closed her eyes and focused.

On the deck the man with the dagger began to flinch in a weird way. Zuko looked and saw Katara was in a weird stance her hands nearly limp but moved so smoothly. He looked to the deck again and saw the man's body moving in a way that wasn't normal. He dropped the dagger and his men all turned to focus on him.

Ignoring what was happening Zuko saw the moment and ran from his spot toward his sister. Unaware that he was coming the men holding her were caught off guard as Zuko attacked. Iroh joined his nephew allowing Zuko to grab his sister and run back to the steps. Katara had walked up onto the deck. Everyone was watching her, both foe and friend.

"Leave, Now" Katara said controlling the man she threw his body onto the other boat. Filled with fear of what they saw the earth fighters all left the ship once off Katara used her bending to move the waves to send them off. Katara ran over to Azula and saw her head had a cut on it. Zuko laid her down on the ground so Katara could heal her. Because of the full moon Katara was able to heal her wounds quickly. Azula's eyes sprung open.

"What happened? Where are the men who attacked us?"

"Gone, you're okay now." Katara said hugging her friend.

"I think everyone needs to go to there rooms and get a good night's sleep." Iroh said putting his hand on Katara's shoulder. " You've done a great job tonight Katara."

Katara nodded and helped pull her friend up to her feet. The four began to walk downstairs. Katara could hear the men on deck yelling to continue their work and get the ship moving again. Once downstairs Azula went to go to her room and noticed it was empty.

"Where is Ty Lee?"

"She in our room with Sozi and Toph." Zuko responded. They all walked down the hall to Zuko and Katara's door.

"Ty Lee it's me Katara, you can open the door now it's safe."

"How do I know it's really you" A voice responded

" Because there's no such thing as voice bending" They heard Toph yell.

"You don't know what they can do!" Ty Lee responded

"Just unlock the door Ty Lee." Azula yelled.

"AZULA" Ty Lee yelled and immediately unlocked the door and threw the door open. She ran out of the room and hugged her best friend. Sozi was holding Tophs hand and walked her over to the group of friends.

"Uncle" Sozi wrapped her arms around him. "I was so scared. I'm so happy you guys are okay." She hugged Azula. "Don't get yourself hurt okay?"

Azula smiled and hugged her little sister back. "Okay." Sozi turned and hugged her brother tight. "Thank you" Zuko hugged her back. Of his sister's Zuko had a very close bond with Sozi. Katara smiled at the interaction.

"Everyone to your rooms. We all need some rest." Iroh said walking the four girls down to their rooms.

Zuko let Katara walk into the room first and followed behind her closing the door and locking it. Katara sat on the bed looking up at him. He looked at her for a moment unsure of what to say or how to start.

" I don't know what you did out there, but thank you." He said looking at the candles lining the walls.

Katara looked down at her hands. " It's blood bending. A women from the northern tribe taught me. She uses it as a part of her healing techniques. I can only do it on full moons. I never really picked up using it for healing. I don't use it unless I have to."

Zuko sat next to Katara and grabbed her hands. "You saved Azula, and possibly everyone else on this ship. Don't feel bad for what you did." Zuko kissed Katara on her forehead, making her blush. " Let's go to sleep. I'll even let you cuddle me if you want." The both had a small smile and got onto their sides and laid down. Zuko put out the candles and the two teens drifted off to sleep. At some point in the night Zuko had turned over putting his arm over Katara pulling her into him.

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Arriving in the Fire Nation next chapter, Reviews are still delicious cookies and I'd really love to read some as I edit my next two chapters :) (:


	5. Chapter 5

Sorry guys! I meant to post this yesterday but my 3 month old has a cold and was being very clingy yesterday. So as an apology I made it a little longer! Enjoy!

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"Uncle how much longer?" Toph said, her arms crossed resting on the side of the ship. Her face resting on them as she looked aimlessly out feeling the ocean air hitting her face. It was the last day on the ship and Toph couldn't wait to feel the earth beneath her toes.

"Not long, young one, we should be able to see the city in the horizon soon. Maybe an hour or so." Iroh said sitting at a small table on the deck drinking tea and playing Pai Sho with Sozi.

"The minute someone sees it tell me." Toph said sighing hoping they were closer than that.

" Will do." Sozi said making her move but eyeing her Uncle to see if he would give her any hint if it was a good or bad move.

"I can't wait for the party tonight." Ty Lee said while walking around the deck on her hands.

"What party?" Katara asked. She had been laying down on the deck playing with some water around her fingers.

"Your engagement party of course." Azula called from her side of the deck where she was working on a move with Zuko. Katara shot up.

"My what?!"

"Didn't Zuko tell you?" Azula said stopping her move and looking at her brother.

"Don't look at me, I figured one of you told her. I figured you would talk about dresses and it would come up. Why would it come up for me?"

"Um because its a party about your engagement. I happen to be the other half of that engagement. You should be the one who tells me things." Katara said annoyed.

Zuko shrugged and went back to training with Azula. Katara sighed and got up and walked over to the side of the boat next to Toph. She was excited to finally be off the boat and have a change of scenery. At the same time, she was terrified because the minute she stepped off the boat and her feet touched the ground she was a lady of the Fire Nation.

"Ty lee want to practice with me." She said turning around. She needed a distraction and trying to perfect something was a good way to do so.

"Sure" Ty Lee landed on her feet and the two walked over to an open area.

" I want to work with you whenever you can, I need to be good at something besides bending, if that cool with you?" Katara asked. Ty Lee gave her a big hug.

" Of course Katara, I'd love to work with you. It'll be fun. We'll have to work on your flexibility." Ty Lee did a back stand then bowed to Katara before getting into a stance. The two began to spar. As they did so Ty Lee would correct her stances or give suggestions on how to block or counter. Katara was amazed at how smooth Ty Lee's movements were. It really was like a dance with her.

Zuko glanced over at Ty Lee and Katara. He could see Katara struggling against her. Katara was an incredible bender but she only ever focused on the bending. To be fair no one beat Ty Lee. It was her craft. Azula was the only one who gave her a true struggle but Ty Lee would always win. Zuko focused back on Azula to make sure she was doing the movements correctly.

"I see it!" Sozi called. Everyone stopped what they were doing and looked toward the horizon.

"Thank Agni" Toph said with a huge smile. Katara ran back over to the side of the ship next to her. She looked toward the city. It was amazing, nothing like the water tribe. The buildings were huge, beautiful craftsmanship, metal sculptures lined the main gates. At the peak she could see a huge volcano and the palace at the base. It was bigger than any building in the entire south pole.

"It's beautiful right?" Toph said breaking her thoughts. Katara looked at her confused.

"It's an island made of rock from the lava that formed over the last thousand years. I can see everything." Toph smiled. Their father had certain rooms remodeled in the palace with stone floors so Toph would be able to see better inside. Though she felt like an outsider a lot, her family did absolutely everything to make sure she knew she was apart of the family regardless of birth.

"Yeah it is very beautiful." As they got closer she noticed all the colors of the trees and flowers. That was her favorite part of being on Ember Island. They didn't have foliage in the South Pole, and she loved smelling the flowers every morning when she woke up.

"Let's all go pack our things, we should be to port within a half hour." Iroh said standing up and heading for the stairs to go to his room. Everyone nodded and followed him down. Zuko got to the room first. He left the door open for Katara to come in. She saw him packing up his books first. The past couple of nights she noticed he was having nightmares in his sleep. She'd wake up randomly hearing him crying out, his body stiffening and sweating. She didn't know how to help him so she started holding onto him and would wait for him to calm down. The night of the attack was the first time it had happened.

He was yelling no and thrashing around. She held him and rubbed his hair until he calmed down. Once he had, Katara had laid back down to go to sleep but he started again. She turned and held him the way she had the first night on the ship. She stayed that way until morning. She woke up and saw he had turned in the night and they were face to face. Before she could react he had woken up. He stirred for a moment then realized the position they were in, he got up and walked into the bathroom. When he emerged he grabbed a new outfit, went back in and changed, came out and left the room without a word.

They continued this dance for the remaining nights on the ship. They'd start the night on their own sides. Katara would wake to the sound of Zuko's nightmares and then she'd turn to hold him and fall back asleep. Then one of them would wake up seeing they were holding each other, get up and start the day without saying anything. Until now.

"Zuko" Katara said sitting on the bed with some shirts she was folding into her bag. " What do you have nightmares about?" His back stiffened at her question but he didn't stop what he was doing.

"Nothing" He said in a sad voice.

"You know as your future wife you can trust me and tell me things. You also move a lot in your sleep so you know I know that you're lying."

"Don't worry about it Katara. It's nothing, just pack your things." Zuko turned to look at her, " I appreciate what you've been doing but you can stop. I'm fine." He walked over to his dresser and started shoving clothes into his bag not bothering to fold them. Katara frowned at him and continued to put her things away.

About a half hour later they boat had ported and Katara was following everyone down the ramp. She was looking around admiring the cherry blossom trees, the fire lillies, the roses, everything was so beautiful and colorful up close.

"Where are mother and father?" Sozi asked from behind her.

"Your father had a meeting and they were rushed up to the palace your highness." One of the guards answered from the dock. Katara saw Iroh getting onto a carriage, She looked and saw two more behind it. The three girls got into the second one, Katara went to follow but it began to move. Katara rolled her eyes realizing that the third was for her and Zuko.

She got into the carriage and saw there was only one large pillow inside. With a sigh Katara sat down on the further side. Zuko followed in and sat next to her silently. Shortly the carriage began moving. Katara moved the drape so she could look outside. As they went up the hill to the palace Katara took in everything she saw. The city was so beautiful, nothing like her home. The people were different, the air was different, the buildings.

She saw a huge wall coming up. It was lined with huge cherry blossom trees and had vines going up the walls. The vibrant pinks of the trees were so beautiful to Katara.

"It's our nation's tree." Zuko said breaking Katara from her thoughts. Katara looked at him. " The cherry blossom tree, when the wind blows, seedlings fall from the petals and land in new places creating more trees. They're all over the island, especially around the palace."

"We don't have anything like this in the water tribes. I can't believe how many colors you have here. All we have is white and blue." Katara heard a loud noise and looked out the window again. She saw the wall opening by earthbenders. The palace was huge. More of a castle with its huge tower like structures.

A few minutes later they were stopped at the front steps, Zuko opened the door and put his arm out signalling Katara to exit first. She walked down the carriage steps and saw the girls hugging Ursa at the top step.

"Katara, Zuko, so glad we are all finally home." She hugged her son as the approached the front door. She turned and hugged Katara tight. "I heard how brave you were protecting my family. Thank you Katara." Katara smiled and hugged her back. "Of course. I'd never let anything happen to them."

"Mother are the dresses here?" Azula asked.

"Yes dear they are in your rooms, the tailors will be in shortly to make any needed adjustments, Zuko will you show Katara where your room is? " Zuko nodded and started walking toward the palace doors.

"I should head home and get ready and see my parents and sisters. I'll see you guys tonight!" Ty Lee waved then ran down the steps. Katara followed Zuko inside to her new room.

After many halls and turns they finally arrived to the room. Zuko opened the door to this huge room. It was bigger than the dining hall at Ember Island. The side walls were lined with books going nearly seven feet high. There was artwork above them covering the remaining walls. She saw a door on the side she assumed to be a bathroom.

There was a massive bed against the far wall. Even bigger than the one on the ship. On either side was a huge window that went from floor to ceiling. She walked up to one seeing another cherry blossom tree only this one was right against the window. Once there she looked out and saw this beautiful Koi pond in the center of a courtyard full of grass and trees and flowers.

"Wow, Toph wasn't kidding. Is this the yard your dad had put together for your mother?"

"Yes, she spends hours out there. Reading, writing, playing with the turtle ducks, feeding the Koi. It her favorite place in the entire palace."

Katara smiled, she had a feeling it would be her favorite too. She turned to look at Zuko.

"So. Where's this dress I need to be trying on?" Zuko pointed to an armoire on the right side of the room. He sat on the bed with a book and began writing in it.

"I didn't know you kept a journal." Katara said as she opened the armoire. It was filled with dress. "Um which one is it?"

"The one with a golden dragon on it. It's tradition that people engaged wear it to symbolize the coming together to the royal family and the history of our nation. And there's a lot of things you don't know about me." Zuko smirked at her.

"Oh really? Are you some big bundle of secrets all of a sudden?" Katara turned and looked through the dresses until she found the dragon. When she found it she gasped. Pulling it out it was a deep royal blue cheongsam. The golden dragon wrapped around the bottom of the dress and it's face ended right by the slit of the dress by where her thigh would be.

"You'll just have to find out." There was a knock at the door. Zuko stood and walked to the door to see who was there. When he opened it they saw a woman with a huge bag with her. He assumed it to be the tailor so he moved so she could enter.

"Lady Katara, welcome to the fire nation, I am Amina, I will be doing your fitting. If you'd like to step into the bathroom to change so we may start." She stated. Katara looked at the woman. She was fair like all fire nation woman but she had a very serious look. Katara nodded and grabbed the dress and walked into the bathroom to change.

Once on Katara looked in the mirror to look at herself _. Nope. No way in hell am I walking out there like this._ Before she could protest the door to the bathroom flew open.

"Come my lady, we need to begin altering now. No time to waste." Amina grabbed Katara by the arm and pulled her out into the bedroom. Katara and Zuko's eyes met before she watched him look over her body. The dress clearly was made for a different body.

It was so tight and loose all at the same time. Katara always thought her body was shaped so weirdly compared to her friends. They were all so thin, but Katara was so, curvy. The dress was mostly tight around her breasts, butt, and thighs. It was really loose around her neck and stomach.

Amina was already marking the dress moving Katara's body around. Katara looked in the mirror feeling so uncomfortable. She noticed Zuko still looking at her. Annoyed Katara saw a cup of water close by and used her bending to throw it into Zuko's face.

"Hey!" Zuko yelled.

"You deserved it! Stop looking at me. I'm uncomfortable enough without the looks." Katara said crossing her arms only to have them moved again while Amina began to mark the top of her dress.

Zuko felt bad and looked away. He grabbed his journal and began writing again to distract himself. Zuko had been sleeping next to Katara for a week now and he'd have to be blind not to notice her body. The dress showed off every single one of her curves and it was driving Zuko nuts. As much as he tried to ignore her he couldn't. His eyes kept going back to her legs and thighs and her ass.

"All done go take it off so I can make the adjustments. I'll be back in a few hours to make sure it fits." Amina said breaking his thoughts. Katara walked into the bathroom and emerged a few moments later with the dress in hand. She gave it to Amina, who bowed than quickly walked out of the room.

" Where are the girls room?" Katara asked, her arms crossed over herself.

"Um Azula, Sozi and Toph are in a different hall all next to each other."

"How do I get there?" Katara said sounding annoyed.

"I'll walk you. It's too complicated to explain." Zuko looked at her confused. She looked sad.

"Fine." She responded and followed him out the door.

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"Ah Master Hinata, how are you this evening?" Ozai asked the next gentleman who walked up to them. Katara had been doing this for over an hour. The party was to introduce the new water tribe fiance to the nations most important people. Council members, the wealthy families and anyone else that was deemed important.

Lord Ozai was seated in a large chair on a stage with his wife Ursa next to him. Zuko and Katara were seated in front of them. There was a large line of people waiting to be introduced and meet the new couple. She felt like she would never get to leave this seat. She could see her friends around chatting with themselves and a few other women.

"So lovely to meet you Lady Katara." The man bowed to her.

"We will be sure to visit your academy Master Hinata." Zuko said saving Katara from embarrassing herself as she hadn't paid attention to a thing he had said. The man smiled and walked away.

"Thank you" Katara whispered to Zuko.

"I promise this is almost over. There only 3 more councilmen left, a governor, and a war assistant." Zuko said back.

Katara let out a breath relieved to hear that. " Good, I'm starving." She had been smelling the food and her stomach was screaming at her to eat something. Katara put a hand over her stomach when it growled again.

" Tell your stomach it can eat in ten minutes." Zuko chuckled. " I'm glad your dress fits by the way."

Katara smiled. She didn't think it was possible but Amina was able to make the dress a perfect fit. It was an amazing dress. One of the nicest she'd ever worn. Zuko was in very nice maroon and black robes. He also had a golden dragon wrapped around his robe to match that of Katara's. Just in case people didn't know who the newly engaged couple was they had giant dragons matching them together. Katara looked up as the next person came up to them.

A half hour later they were finally done and Katara ran to the food.

"Geez I thought Sokka was the food crazy one. You look like you've been starved." Azula laughed from behind her.

" I just greeted a bunch of people whose names I'll never remember for two hours being forced to smell all this food but not being able to eat it." Katara said with a bowl of fruit in her hand.

"You'll know them all eventually. That's what your lessons will be for. Don't worry if you forget anyone, Zuko knows them all, just make him do the work." Ursa said walking up behind her daughter. She gave Katara a wink. Katara returned it with a smile.

Katara looked around the party. Toph and Sozi were talking with some girls by the fountain. Azula and Ty Lee were chatting next to her. Ozai and Zuko were on the far side talking to two people. The man was dressed in fancy black robes. Katara remembered he was a governor but she hadn't seen the girl.

"Who is that girl talking to Zuko?" Katara asked looking at Azula and Ty Lee. The two glanced over to where Zuko was, Azula rolled her eyes.

"That's Mai, Governor Ukano's daughter, she's obsessed with Zuko. She tried to be our friend when we all went to school together but I saw right through her fake attempt. Her father is all about power and trying to be as high in command as possible which he clearly passed on to his daughter."

"Yeah, I don't think she even really likes Zuko, I think she just sees him as her direct line to be better than her father." Ty Lee added. "Besides, Zuko is promised to you."

Katara looked at the girl. She had Jet black hair and was incredibly pale. She wore dark robes with dark maroon underneath. She was giving Zuko a look that annoyed Katara. Mai was giving him a fake smile and put her hand on his arm while standing annoyingly close to thinking Katara walked over to them.

Zuko looked up and saw Katara headed his way. He had been trying to get away from Mai but his father was still talking to her father and he couldn't be rude in front of him. Katara stood next to Zuko and looked right at Mai.

"Hello, I'm Katara, and you are?"

The girl looked at her with a flicker of anger in her eye. " Mai, I'm a friend of Zuko's" she said with an annoying smile at him.

"Oh funny, I've know Zuko for twelve years and he's never mentioned you." Katara said with a large fake smile.

Mai gave a small smile, shot Zuko a look then turned to her father, " Father are you ready to go? I believe mother needs help with Tom-tom."

"Ah yes I heard your wife finally had the baby, go, go. I'm sure a new baby is more fun." Ozai said to Ukano. " In fact I think it's getting a little late and we all just traveled and could all use a good night's rest in our own beds." Ozai waved to one of his head servants and walked off to speak with him.

Katara felt satisfied with her encounter with Mai. She looked at Azula and Ty Lee across the room who were laughing. Katara turned to look at Zuko who was giving her a weird look. He was actually smirking at her.

"Ready to go to the room?" He asked still giving her that look.

"Yes, I'm so tired." Katara waved to her friends then followed Zuko out. Katara tried to pay attention to walls and artwork so she could remember where she is so she wouldn't need Zuko everytime she wanted to go somewhere.

Once to their room Zuko opened the door for her still with a look. Katara walked in and turned around to look at him.

"What's with the look?" Katara asked once he closed the door.

Zuko looked at her and crossed his arms, " What's with the possessiveness?"

"Excuse me?"

"You just attacked a girl for talking to me."

" I did not attack her. Azula and Ty Lee were telling me about her and I came over to put her in her place." Katara crossed her arms looking at him with a look of annoyance.

"Oh really what did they tell you? About the crush she's had on me for the past few years?" Zuko smirked at her again.

"Why are you smirking? And no they said she was power hungry."

"Uh huh, since when do you care about people wanting to have higher rank in the fire nation?"

" I don't. I just think she was being.." Katara threw her arms up in the air. " Fine, I won't help you anymore."

"You were jealous. You didn't like the idea that she was flirting with me."

"I was not jealous. I'm done with this conversation I'm changing and going to bed." She said walking to her dresser to grab a change of clothes.

" Fine, deny it all you want. I'll see you in bed." He gave her a look that annoyed her even more. She walked to the bathroom and slammed the door.

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Woooo, dramaaa. Can't wait to get the next update out for you all! Reviews are always helpful 3 :)


	6. Chapter 6

Alright so this was the last chapter I had prewritten. I will try to get an update out every other day if I can! Read and Enjoy!

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"Again Katara." Lo and Li said in unison.

Katara let out a frustrated sigh and began to say the Fire Nation anthem again. She was trying to focus so she didn't mess it up again.

"...For the Fire Nation we... um believe... no fight...uh..." Katara was struggling. She had only just read this freaking anthem yesterday.

"No Katara, again." The twins said again.

"Actually Lo and Li, it's time for us to go train." Azula said standing up grabbing Katara's arm and running out the room with her.

"Have a lovely day ladies. Don't worry we will teach her all the good stuff for tomorrow." Toph said running after them, more than happy to sneak out a little early.

"Bye!" Sozi laughed running out with her sisters and Katara.

Once far enough away the girls all began to laugh.

"Thank you guys. Another minute of that and my head was going to explode." Katara laughed beyond grateful for the rescue.

"Please, we have been their students for years and we still have our heads explode." Toph smiled.

"Lo and Li are a lot to handle. Not the most nurturing of women." Sozi responded.

"Besides, I'd much rather go to training early then hear the anthem one more time." Azula said as she walked toward the door leading to the training grounds.

"I need to change first, I'll meet you guys out there." Katara told her friends and headed for her room. She walked quickly down to her room making sure to avoid the room she knew Lo and Li were in. Once to her room she ran in and grabbed her training clothes. Wanting to get dressed quickly she decided to just change in her room instead of going into the bathroom.

She stripped of all her clothes and did her bindings. She grabbed her knew bindings and before she was able to put them on she heard the bathroom door open. Zuko left the room wet with a towel wrapped low on his hips and another he was using to dry his hair. He dropped the towel down and saw Katara standing in their room with just her panties on.

Embarrassed Katara immediately covered her breasts and ducked to hide by her side of the bed.

"WHAT ARE YOU DOING HERE?" Katara yelled beginning to wrap herself quickly.

"It's my bedroom! I needed to shower I didn't realize it's a crime. Zuko said walking over to his dresser to grab his clothes.

"It's not but I thought you were in a meeting with your father." Katara stood once she had her bindings on properly and pulled on her pants.

" I was, it got out early. Shouldn't you be in a lesson?" Zuko asked turning slightly to see that she was nearly dressed.

"Yeah that didn't go very well. Azula snuck us out early to go start training but I needed to change." Katara put her cropped top on and slid her flats on. " Speaking of which they are waiting for me." Katara ran to the door and started running to the main door.

That was the most embarrassing moment of my entire life. Katara let out a loud sigh and put her hands to her face. I'm never doing that again. Katara opened the door to go to the training grounds. She walked down the steps and onto the field set up for training. Azula and Sozi were stretching out and Toph was sitting on a rock.

"Hey, you found your way back! Good job Katara you're doing a great job figuring out the palace." Sozi called from her spot.

"Thanks I've been trying to study everything so I don't need a guide." Katara walked up to the pond and dipped her feet in. It wasn't the same as Ember Island and the ocean but she was happy to have water available.

"Alright everyone ready for training?" Everyone turned to look at Iroh. He had two men with him. "Azula, Sozi, you'll go with your trainers. Toph go ahead and start working some skills out, Haru will be back soon. Katara, my brother has sent for a master to come to you soon but for now you will still need to practice on your own. Now has anyone seen Zuko?" He asked looking around.

"He was in our room getting ready." Katara responded with a blush.

"No matter, I'll begin when he gets here. Everyone else begin." Katara nodded and walked deeper into the water. She surrounded herself with her element and began to punch at the water into the empty area sending out ice shards. Her concentration broke when she heard his voice.

"Sorry Uncle I'm here." Zuko called as he ran up to his Uncle. Katara turned to see him, they made eye contact and before Katara looked away she noticed a blush creep onto his face as well.

* * *

Dinner was incredible quiet. Ozai and Iroh were at a meeting, Azula had gone to Ty Lee's, and Ursa was away with a noblemen wife for some sort of retreat. Having the extra room Katara sat in Iroh's normal spot leaving a space between her and Zuko. Sozi and Toph noticed the separation.

" You guys fighting more than normal? You can't even sit together?" Toph asked.

" Just like the extra elbow room" Katara answered quickly.

"Leave them alone Toph, they have to be together all the time. A break could be needed." Sozi defended.

"Yeah needed so they don't kill each other." Toph cracked up.

"I'd need more space for this to be an actual break." Zuko said as he sipped at his tea.

Katara shot him a look. " If anyone needs a break it's me." Mostly done with her meal Katara stood and left to go to her room.

"Look what you two did." Sozi said annoyed at her siblings.

"What did I do?" Toph asked.

"Why did you have to comment on Katara's seat? And you. That was rude Zuko. You shouldn't be making her so uncomfortable and miserable. She just left her entire life to be here." Sozi was glaring at her big brother, disappointed in his actions.

Zuko looked at his little sister. She looked so much like their mother. She had her heart too. Easily the kindest of all the siblings. He let out a sigh.

"You know you don't always need to be right Sozi." She gave him a smile which he returned before leaving the hall to go find Katara in their room.

Once to his room Zuko walked in and saw Katara sitting in front of the window on her side. She was looking up at the moon. He heard her sniffle and saw her rub her face with her elbow.

"Katara." Zuko called to her as he walked closer.

"Just leave me alone Zuko. I'm not in the mood to fight with you right now."

Zuko sat next to her and looked outside with her. He could see she was crying.

"I'm sorry." He said after a minute of them sitting in silence.

Katara looked at him like he had just grown an extra head.

" Did you just apologize to me? First? Unprompted?"

Zuko smiled, " I told you, I am a bundle of surprises." Katara let out a small smile. " I am sorry. It's just our entire worlds have changed in the course of this last week. I know it's a hard adjustment for us both. I guess I'm just not handling it well. I shouldn't take it out on you."

"Seriously, did your mom, uncle, or even Sozi tell you what to say. This is the kindest you've ever been to me. It's kind of freaking me out." Katara's tears were finally stopping.

"I know, don't get to used to it. I'm never wrong." At that Katara let out a loud belly laugh. "What is so funny?"

"You.. never wrong.. that hilarious." Katara put her hand over her stomach. Zuko smiled and pushed her slightly with his elbow. As she settled Katara looked back up at the moon.

"I miss my family" She said sounding sad again. " I miss trying to sleep at night to the sound of Sokka's loud snores in the room next door. I miss my Gran gran asking me to help her with meals. I miss my normal life." Zuko looked at her. He thought for a moment.

"I'm thinking about break the rules. I need an accomplice. You in?" Katara looked up at him, one of her eyebrows was up in a confused look.

"Yes?" With that Zuko stood up and held his hand out for Katara to take. He pulled her up and walked to their door. He looked both ways before going into a full run down the hall.

"Zuko where are we..." Katara started to ask as Zuko was still holding onto her hand. He stopped her by hold a finger to his lips to tell her to be silent. She followed him the rest of the way silent. The ran around the halls until the got to the main doors. Zuko stopped and looked around again before slowly opening the door.

The guards were lining the grounds, Zuko turned to Katara and whispered so quietly she barely heard him.

"Stay in the shadows and don't make a single sound. Follow me, when I run, run with me okay?"

Katara nodded to him. They leaned against the main wall and started creeping along it heading toward the west wall. Once to the corner Zuko stopped again checked both way and without warning darted across the main lawn. Katara followed him as best she could, he ducked into a bush and Katara jumped in with him.

They stayed there for a minute. Two guards were walking the area and they stopped to chat for a moment before returning to their posts. After another minute Zuko grabbed Kataras hand and started running. They were approaching a cliff and not slowing down. Katara started to panic.

"Zuko what the hell are you doing?" Katara called panicked

"Do me a favor, don't scream to loud." Zuko called back with a laugh. Katara tried to stop but Zuko kept pulling her right to the cliff. Within seconds they had jumped off the cliff and were falling.

Katara let out a scream while Zuko was laughing. She looked down and saw water. They hit it the water with a huge splash. Katara felt herself submerged into the ocean water. Zuko had let go of her hand and resurfaced already. Katara stayed a little bit longer loving the feeling and then she surfaced as well.

"Are you crazy?" Katara laughed at him.

"It was fun and you know it." Zuko said swimming over to her.

"Fine, it was fun, but you could've warned me." Katara said splashing him.

"Oh because if I said, I know what will make you feel better, come jump off a cliff with me, you would've come?" He was less than two feet away from her now.

"Probably be not" she laughed. "Thank you though, this did make me feel better."

He looked up, the moon was directly above them. "It looks like the day is over and the new day has begun."

Katara looked up. "Yeah I guess so." Katara looked down and looked out at the beach.

"So I promised I wouldn't say anything but my sisters are going to come into our room in the morning and wake you up. They want to spend the day doing all these crazy things they planned."

"Why?" Katara noticed Zuko was inching closer. She remembered earlier when he saw her and swam away a little bit to create some space. Zuko noticed her swim away. He thought about earlier and how awkward it had been. They'd have to get over it eventually.

"Because it's your birthday."

"How did you know? " Katara asked looking at him.

"Because you would always talk about how you wished summer was just a little longer so you could have your birthday on Ember Island."

" Oh yeah I forgot about that." Katara smiled.

"Let's head back so you can get some sleep. I'm sure they will be in our room the minute the sun comes out." Zuko said as he started swimming back to the little beach.

Katara used her bending to get her to the beach in under 15 seconds.

"What's taking you so long?" Katara called.

"Cheater!" Zuko yelled back.

Katara used her bending again to get Zuko to shore. He landed on his butt from the wave and looked up at her with an annoyed look.

"Graceful" He said spitting extra water out of his mouth.

"Your welcome." Katara laughed.

Zuko stood and started leading her back to the palace. It was a much longer walk back then the short run they had to the cliff. They walked in silence the entire way back. Once to the palace wall Zuko walked over to one of the guards who shook his head at him and opened a small tunnel to let them back in.

They walked back up the palace steps and through the main door getting a couple looks from the guards manning the front. Going through the halls to the room Katara was trying to figure out which way Zuko would turn before he did so to make sure she really knew where she was going.

Back in the room the two grabbed their clothes for the night. It was a hotter night than normal so instead of binding Katara decided to just wear a silk blue robe and her coolest pair of underwear with no breast bindings. She went into the bathroom to change. She waited an extra minute to give Zuko time to change into his sleep pants before she came back out.

As she opened the door she saw Zuko sitting in bed with his journal. Katara really wanted to know what he was writing in there. She walked around to her side of the bed and got under the covers.

"Feel any better?" Zuko asked closing his journal and setting it down on his nightstand. Katara turned to look at him, she gave him a small smile and nodded her head. He smiled back at her and stared at her a moment. Katara couldn't figure out why he was staring at her so long. Finally he bent down and kissed her forehead.

"Happy Birthday Katara" He pulled back and laid down. He looked up at her. " So should I hold you tonight or are you going to cuddle into me." He smirked.

Katara rolled her eyes. "Shut up" Katara laid back and faced away. Knowing one of them would eventually turn to face the other. Before she fell asleep she felt Zuko's arm move over her waist. He pulled her closer and she felt him rest his face into her back.

"Is this okay?" He whispered into her back his breath tickling her skin. She thought about the day they had just had. What a roller coaster of emotions it was.

"Yeah. It's okay." She wiggled her body so the were pressed against each other. In a weird way being held like this did make her feel a lot better. She hated to admit it but she did sleep better after she would turn to help Zuko with his nightmares. She was going to be spending the rest of her life in bed with with Zuko next to her. Might as well get used to it.

* * *

Little fluffy chapter, I'll try to have my next update up in a day or two for you awesome people 3 Reviews make my heart flutter every time I get one! They also help me write faster knowing someone out there is really reading this :)


	7. Chapter 7

HELLOOOO! I am so sorry I meant to make an update sooner than this BUTTTT I have the next 3 chapters done! So I promise there will be an update once a day for a little while.

* * *

.KNOCK

Zuko and Katara stirred to the sound of the banging on their door. Still in the same position they fell asleep in Katara groaned.

"Who is it?" Zuko called out.

"It's us Zuko, we told you we were coming! Open the door!" Toph yelled from the other side.

"Do I send them away?" Zuko whispered into Katara's back. Though Katara was incredibly tired from being up so late with Zuko, and she was very comfortable, she knew she should get up.

"No, they planned this whole thing. I'd feel bad." Katara turned over onto her back. "Thanks for being my friend last night." Katara kissed his cheek then stood up to grab an outfit for the day.

"Give me a second to change!" Katara yelled.

"Hurry up!" Azula yelled back.

"Yeah come on we only have so much time to fit everything in." Sozi yelled.

Katara looked at Zuko," Everything?" she asked. Zuko laughed from his spot on the bed he rolled over onto his side to go back to sleep.

"Yeah have fun. You'll be exhausted before dinner."

Katara went into the bathroom and changed quickly before heading to her door and unlocking it to her friends.

"HAPPY BIRTHDAY" the three girls yelled and threw rice into the air. Katara laughed and thanked her friends as she plucked the rice out of her hair. Sozi grabbed her hand and rushed her to the main door.

"Katara we have so much planned for you today! Mom cleared all of our lessons and training so the day is ours!" Sozi smiled at her as she pulled Katara into a large carriage.

"We are picking Ty Lee up on the way." Azula said as she sat leaving an open space. The carriage moved and pulled the girls forward.

* * *

Katara walked into her room exhausted she could barely take another step. She fell onto her bed without even changing. Zuko was right she wasn't going to make it to dinner. She kicked her shoes off and crawled onto her side of the bed. The girls had planned a seriously full day. After picking Ty Lee up they went to the local circus that her sisters performed in. After the performance they got on the trampolines and learned some moves. After that they went down to the shore and went swimming with the giant Koi.

They stopped for lunch at a local tea shop. They ran into Uncle who had the entire shop sing to her. It was incredibly embarrassing for her but she smiled anyway. After that they went to the middle zone and did a crazy amount of shopping. Shopping in the capital was a new experience for Katara instead of taking their purchases with them the owners would package them and have them shipped to the palace.

After shopping they went to a play. It was about how Avatar Roku fought till his last days and that there was a new hope because somewhere the new avatar was growing and developing their skills in one of the air temples. Finally they headed home only to have one last surprise of a concert in the front yard by some of the servants and guards. The girls made Katara get up and dance with them for an hour.

Katara heard the door open. She opened an eye to see Zuko coming in fully dressed in official Fire Nation robes and his crown. He took his robes off and placed his crown in its usual spot. He kicked off his shoes and stripped down to just his pants and climbed into bed next to Katara.

"How was your birthday extravaganza?"

"A lot of fun, but if I stand up, my legs are going to fall off. Any chance dinner can come to me?" Katara turned her head to look at him. He was stretching out his back. Katara caught herself watching his muscles contract in his arms. His toned stomach stretching out made her blush.

"I already arranged it. I was stuck in meetings all day and my back is killing me from sitting on the floor all day. I figured you could use a break from activity today after being with my sisters all day." Katara was watching him noticing he was massaging his muscles in a weird way.

"You have no idea, my feet lost feeling hours ago. What are you doing?" Zuko looked at her and gave her a small smile.

"Give me your foot." He put his hand out.

"I'm sorry what?" She asked with her eyebrows scrunched.

"Your foot. Give it to me."

"No that's weird, what are you going..." Zuko bent over and grabbed her foot making her body move so she was now horizontally on the bed. He began to rub her foot which Katara was very uncomfortable with until she felt his hand heating up. The warmth mixed with the pressure of his hands was fantastic. Katara relaxed into his touch and went from being perched on her elbows to laying flat on her back and closing her eyes.

Zuko continued like this for 5 minutes before he switched her feet. Katara thought her water healing was great but this was somehow even better. There was a soft knock at the door before Zuko was done and Katara let out a frustrated sigh.

"It's our food, I'll be right back." Katara watched as Zuko walked over to the door. She was surprised out how well they'd been getting along in the last 24 hours. This must be our new record. Katara smirked to herself. She felt a little guilty because Zuko was the one doing all the effort and Katara hadn't really done anything nice for Zuko. But at the same time he was the one who started most of their fights. Half.

Zuko returned with a large tray with three dishes on it each covered with a silver top to keep them warm, and a small red box. Katara looked at the box but Zuko grabbed it and set it on his side table. Katara scooted to sit against the headboard so that Zuko could place the platter on the bed.

"I hope you like it." Zuko said lifting the tray tops. Katara gasped when she saw what was under. It was all her favorite foods from home. Katara looked at Zuko and teared a little bit.

"Zuko.. I... I don't know what to say, this is amazing."

"See told you, I knew you and I could take you on dates." He smirked.

"Oh is this a date?" Katara laughed.

"Well no. But i'm just trying to prove a point." They began to eat in silence. Katara kept glancing at the box wondering what it was. The food was amazing though, just like home which made her feel a little better about not being home for her birthday. After they finished eating Zuko carried the tray out and placed it on the outside of the door for a servant to pick up.

Zuko grabbed the box and his face immediately went red. " So.. I uh.. this is kind of a birthday present but not at the same time... It's um.. well just open it." He said handing it to her. Katara gave him a look before taking it from him. He was being super weird. Katara had never seen Zuko act like this before.

She opened the box and saw the most amazing necklace she had ever seen. It had a red silk ribbon with a single blue string going through the center. Enough that she could see it but not enough that anyone else would notice from a distance. The pendant attached was a beautiful purple stone and carved inside was that of the fire nation and water tribe symbols mixed together as one.

"It's your engagement necklace. I know it doesn't count as a real birthday gift but they finished it yesterday and I thought..." Zuko was rambling.

"I love it." Katara interrupted him. She stood and walked over to the mirror she clasped it around her neck and looked at it for a while. Well it's really official now.

* * *

Katara was sitting in the center courtyard feeding the turtle ducks. She was supposed to be in a lesson with Lady Ursa but she was still stuck in some meeting. Katara put her hand up to her engagement necklace two weeks ago. This still felt like a dream. Like any moment she would wake up in her bed in the South Pole. Katara started to play with the water making the baby turtle ducks swim to the water in amazement.

"Hey Katara." She heard Sozi call. She looked up and waved as her friend approached her. She had two scrolls in hand.

"Letters arrived today, from the South." She smiled and handed her the scrolls. She noticed there was another one tucked into her robes ties.

"Who is that from?" Katara asked. Sozi looked down and blushed.

" Oh um Aang. He's stopping by with Appa. He's bringing Teo and Haru with him." Katara smiled at her.

"You guys are really cute. I'm happy for you Sozi." Sozi sat next to her and smiled.

"Don't tell anyone, because I'll never hear the end of it but, I am happy it's Aang. He's my best friend and he's so kind and he loves animals just like me." One of the turtleducks ran to her and Sozi began to pet it.

"A perfect match." Katara laughed. "I'll miss you when you move to the air temples." Sozi looked up at her friend and smiled.

"I won't be gone forever. I'll get to visit and we always have our summers together." For the youngest one of their group of friends Sozi was wise beyond her years. Katara looked down at the scrolls.

"I'll let you read those, mother should be out of her meeting soon." With that Sozi stood and walked back into the palace. Katara opened her letters seeing one was from Sokka and one was from her parents. The one from Sokka was filling her in on the latest gossip and drama and how no one made seal jerky right like she did. Her parents letter asked her how she was doing and that they all missed her very much and how her gran was doing. Katara smiled and walked to her room so she could start writing them back.

Before she was able to make it to her room she saw Zuko storming out the door to the training grounds. Katara was confused since they didn't have training today, so she followed him out. Once she got outside she saw him stripping off his things and throwing them onto the ground. He yelled and then punched the air producing a huge flame. He continued to do this for a few minutes giving it his everything before he fell to his knees from exhaustion.

Katara walked away before he saw that she had watched the entire thing. She was headed for their room but a servant found her and told her to meet Ursa in the meeting room. Katara nodded and headed over. Once to the giant curtain she nodded to a guard who let her in. She saw Ursa speaking with a couple of servants who bowed to her when they saw her coming. Ursa turned to look and gave Katara a smile.

"I am so sorry sweetheart. The meeting went much longer than we anticipated. Come sit down." Ursa moved her arm showing Katara where to sit. There was a small platter of snacks and a teapot on the table. Ursa poured herself a cup before offering Katara the pot, which she took with a smile.

"So how are you adjusting dear?" Ursa said grabbing some grapes off the platter. Katara was hungry so she grabbed some nuts and cheese.

"It's okay, it's so different here but thankfully my summers on the island helped me prepare for the major temperature change." Ursa smiled at her response.

"Yes I'm sure the blaring sun must be a lot for a waterbender used to the snow year round. So do you have any questions about being the Fire Lady?"

"I think I have thousands but I don't even know where to start." Katara said sheepishly.

"We can start wherever you want. I remember when I found out I was to be Fire Lady, I sat in that very spot with Ozai's mother. She was such a strong woman, so stoic, I was almost scared to ask her questions." Ursa smiled at the memory.

"You are strong too. I could never imagine you afraid of anything. What was the hardest thing to adjust to?"

"That would have to be having the power to change things and not knowing if I was doing the right thing or not. As the Fire Lady you are responsible for certain parts of the Fire Nation to make the work load not so hard for your husband. You are given ones apart of tradition but you get to pick a few if you'd like."

"What do you oversee right now?"

"Well I take care of everything to do with the schools both the private and the public, that was my choice, and I oversee business approvals, land maintenance, and the hospital."

"Wow that sounds like a lot." Katara sipped her tea nervous at how she'd be able to run all that.

"It is but it's rewarding." Ursa placed her hand on Katara's, "You'll be amazing. The key to being a great Fire Lady is caring about the people. That is your job. Making sure the people are taken care of and happy. You'll never make them all happy but you do what your heart tells you."

Katara smiled at that. Her favorite part about being home was working with her gran with the pregnant women and the newborn babies. She was excited that she would be able to continue her work here. They continued this lunch for a couple hours. Talking about duty of the Fire Lady and just talking in general. Katara truly loved this family and she was grateful to be with them and not some random family.

Afterward she began to walk back to her room so she could start her letters. Once to her door she could hear Zuko inside. She opened the door and saw him doing push ups. Has he been working out this entire time? He glanced up to her before he continued doing his set. Katara walked over to the little desk they had and pulled out the paper and started writing. She could tell Zuko was in a shit mood so she ignored him to cool off.

She used to push his buttons when he got into moods but they've been doing so good this week, she didn't want to ruin it. She glanced over at him when she finished writing her first letter. He was doing push ups still and Katara could see the sweat all over him. Katara gulped and turned back around. Zuko's body was insanely in shape and seeing his muscles move while he worked out did something to Katara she couldn't really describe.

An hour had gone by and Katara had finished the two letters and an extra one to send to Suki. She turned and saw Zuko now doing fire squats. She had no idea how he was still able to move. If Katara had been working out like that she would've collapsed by now. Something was up.

"Zuko, you want to take a break? You've been going at this since the meeting ended hours ago. You must be tired." Without breaking his momentum or even looking at her he responded.

"I must? Funny because I think I would know when i'm done"

"Come on hothead, take a break. Let's go do something."

"I am doing something." He said in a cold voice.

"You can work out after a break come on. Lets sneak into the kitchen and get some chocolate covered berries." Katara said standing up walking over to him.

"You go." He said again not even looking at her.

"Can you not be such an ass? The least you could do is look at me. I'm not some lesser being."

Zuko stopped and walked away from her. "Zuko! What the hell is wrong with you?" He kept walking away. Katara was getting so angry now. She used her bending to throw water at his back. That got his attention.

"What do you not get about me wanting to be left alone? You can't just be some spoiled princess here. The world doesn't revolve around you Katara." He yelled.

"How am I being a spoiled princess? All i asked was you take a break before you hurt yourself." She yelled back.

"I have done everything for you the past few weeks. Making sure you weren't home sick. Made sure you had a great birthday. I've tried my absolute hardest to be as nice as possible even when you drive me insane. The least you could do is leave me alone when I ask." He yelled again walking over to his dresser grabbing a shirt.

Katara looked at him in shock. "Did something happen in the meeting? I saw you leave and go to the training grounds."

Zuko's face softened for a second before he got angry again. " Katara I don't want to talk about it just leave me alone. I'll see you at dinner."

"Hopefully this temper tantrum will be over." Katara said annoyed.

"Yeah and maybe you'll be back in the South so I don't have to come back to my room to such a bitch." Zuko said slamming their door. Katara stared at the door for a second. In such shock at how that had all just escalated. She felt tears brim to her eyes. _Screw him_. Katara opened the door and looked both ways. She saw a familiar servant and walked up to him.

* * *

At dinner Zuko sat next to his father still pissed about earlier in the war meeting. His father didn't bother listening to him or even trying to hear him out. He was more pissed that one of the generals mocked his bending ability and his father didn't even defend him. Then in the room Katara just kept pressing him. What is the point of speaking if no one will listen.

"Where is Katara?" Uncle Iroh asked. Zuko shrugged. He had gone for a walk around the grounds and come straight to dinner.

"Zuko, you should know where she is. It's rude to not make sure your future wife makes it to dinner okay. Go find her." Ozai gave his son a stern look.

"She's on her way sir. She got caught up unpacking her things in her new room." The servant who was placing trays down said.

"Her new what?" Ozai said giving his son an even angrier look. Zuko's heart sunk a little at the news.

"Why is she in a new room Zuko." Ursa asked with a sad look. Zuko looked at her and sighed.

"We got into a fight earlier." He answered.

"What did you fight about? You guys have always fought, what was so bad she moved rooms?" Toph asked him.

Before he could answer Katara walked into the room. She sat silent next to him. He looked at her trying to get her to make eye contact but she wouldn't budge. Everyone ate the meal in silence. Ozai left halfway through being called to a meeting. Azula was with Ty lee again and Toph and Sozi were fighting so no one really felt like talking.

After it was done Zuko followed Katara out of the dining room. He followed her down a hall to see what room she was staying in now. It was at the end of the hall his sisters rooms were in.

"Katara, come on. This isn't your room. Come back to our room." Zuko began to feel bad about earlier. It wasn't her fault he was so upset. He shouldn't have taken it out on her. Katara ignored him and slammed the door in his face. He could hear the sound of the lock making him know she wasn't going to open that door. Defeated Zuko walked to his room. Alone.

* * *

Woo. Well that was a roller coaster. Next chapter will be very shall we say steamy for everyone who has been waiting for this couple to kick it up a notch! Reviews are amazing and I love getting them! Keep on reviewing it really helps me see how you guys are liking it or not :)


	8. Chapter 8

As promised here is the next chapter! Smutty lemons ahead :)

* * *

Zuko walked down the hall with his destination in mind until he noticed his sisters were all gathered in front of his fiance's door. Curious he headed there.

" They are both in there." Toph said.

"Poor Katara, being stuck with one of them is hard enough" Azula responded staring at the door.

"What do you think we should do?" Sozi asked.

Confused Zuko asked, "What are you guys doing?" His sisters all turned to look at him expect for Toph who continued to stare at the doorway.

"Lo and Li are in there with Katara, etiquette and history weren't really her forte so they told her she'd have to have private lessons after the group lesson." Sozi told him sounding genuinely sorry for Katara's predicament. Zuko looked toward the door debating if he should help her or not. His mother told him he needed to start working on their relationship if he ever wanted to make their impending marriage work. On the other hand they'd had an extremely bad fight two nights prior.

Zuko took a chance and put his hand on the doorknob and went in.

" Excuse you how dare you enter without being called upo... Prince Zuko! How may we help you" Lo and Li said in their weird simultaneous twin voice. Zuko noticed behind them was Katara. He could see her defeat in her eyes. Zuko recalled how difficult the twins could be when you didn't pick up the fire nation teachings up quickly. Her eyes looked like she wanted to scream and cry all at once.

"Lady Katara is needed in the throne room, I've come to accompany her." Zuko said with authority.

"Of course sir" The twins bowed and left. Katara stood and went to her bathroom. Barely looking at Zuko. A few moments later, Katara emerged in a red robe lined with gold accents, tied at her waist with a black sash, and black leggings underneath and red flats. Zuko still hadn't become use to her in red. He missed her blues, they truly brought out her eyes.

Zuko snapped out of his thoughts and looked at Katara before he spoke. "You don't really need to be in the throne room, I just said that to get them to leave you alone. Lo and Li can be a handful." He noticed her look at her clothes and then stare at him. " You... uh... you could come with me... if you want though, its a minor meeting about the schools and you could um..."

"I'll go." Katara said heading for the door. It was the first words she had said to him since their fight. Zuko nodded and followed her out the door. Once out of her room he lead them down the halls until they reached the throne room. The usual guard was posted in front.

"The Fire Lord has been waiting for you Prince Zuko." the guard said as he moved to the side. Zuko knew that wasn't a statement it was his warning. He knew his father hated to be kept waiting. He hoped with Katara being with him his father would lessen the anger later. He sat at his seat next to his Uncle who gave him a smile and also one to Katara who sat besides Zuko.

"Now that we are all here let's begin" One of the councilmen said shooting Zuko a look. Zuko stared down at his hands. He didn't dare look at his father as he could already feel his disappointment with him. Again.

As predicted the meeting was quite boring for Zuko as were most meetings involving buildings or books. Zuko never really liked school or class. He never got to go to a real school so he didn't particularly care if they expanded the library by a few feet or moved the lunch room by the lake. His classes were with his sisters, with Lo and Li, or bending with his father, uncle or assigned masters.

Once they'd left the throne room Zuko walked over to his Uncle with Katara not far behind him. His father was still in the room as he would for probably another hour or so. Zuko turned and looked at Katara.

"I want to talk to Uncle before I bring you back to your room" She didn't even look at him as they continued to walk. Zuko was going to have to apologize if he ever wanted to have Katara talk to him again. Uncle smiled at him as he reached him.

"Nephew, Katara, how did you like the meeting?" Iroh asked them.

"It was okay, not really interesting as I've never even seen this school they want to fix up." Zuko said.

"I think with a nation that has such a high standard for knowledge you'd think the structure and proficiency of your school would be a more important thing. Our schools were in igloos and all ages were in the same igloo." Katara said finally saying a sentence with more than a couple words.

"Your fiance is a very smart young woman Prince Zuko, your father made a lovely choice." Councilmen Hinata said from behind them. Zuko knew he was also the main instructor at the school they had been discussing. He occasionally would come to the palace when Zuko was young to give him private lessons. " Lady Katara, would you be interested in seeing the school one day? I'm sure the students would love to meet their future fire lady."

"That's a lovely idea! Zuko you and Katara will go see the school after lessons this friday." Iroh said. The teens looked at each other not at all looking forward to the forced time together.

"Sounds wonderful! We look forward to your visit." The councilman walked away with a smile on his face.

"Dinner will be soon, why don't you two go freshen up and get your sisters, your father will be busy but your mother and i have some news for you." Iroh said before leaving down the opposite hall. Zuko watched as he left before he turned to escort Katara back to her room. Once to her door Zuko stood in front of it so Katara couldn't go in. She looked up at him with daggers in her eyes.

"Move." Zuko took a deep breath.

"Katara, I'm sorry." Katara looked at him with clear shock on her face. "I shouldn't have said those things to you. I'm still trying to figure out how to do all this. I've never even had a girlfriend. I grew up with sisters and their friends, and of course you every summer. I know it's not an excuse for talking to you like that and I understand why you moved out of our room, I am truly sorry." Zuko continued staring into her eyes. Katara sighed.

Neither of them wanted to admit they missed sleeping in the same bed together. They had both slept horribly the nights prior. Zuko had not realized how comforting it was to have her next to him when he was having his nightmares. They stared at each other for what felt like forever. Zuko wasn't really sure why his head started to lean down toward her or if her face was really moving closer to his but he was positive that her eyes had closed and his were closing as their lips touched.

The kiss was soft at first. Zuko put his right hand on Kataras waist pulling her closer to him. As he did that Katara had wrapped her arms around his neck to make the reach a little easier. With his left hand Zuko opened Katara's door. He led them into her room without breaking the kiss. Using his foot to shut the door he used his left hand to grab onto Katara's ass and pull her up into his arms. From the touch of his hand Katara jumped up into Zuko's arms and wrapped her legs around his waist.

The sexual tension that had been brewing between them the past few weeks was boiling at the surface. Neither could ignore that they were both grown anymore. No longer the kids at the summer house but now two teens about to wed and become young adults with a nation on their shoulders. Not to mention sharing a room since they left the island had been difficult with Katara sleeping in just silk robes with no wraps and Zuko with no shirt at all.

Zuko layed Katara down on the bed and began kissing down her neck. Hearing the noises coming from Katara as he kissed lower, was fueling Zuko's confidence. With his hand he pulled the wrap holding Katara's robe together then slide his other hand to the front of her robe to expose her breast wrappings and her skin. As Zuko rubbed his hands from her shoulders down to her hips he felt how soft Kataras skin was. A soft moan escaped her lips when Zuko kissed the top of her breast.

Before it could go any further knocking began at Katara's door.

"Katara, are you in there dinner is about to be served." Azula yelled through the door. Luckily Zuko had thought to lock the door as he could hear his sister trying to come in. Zuko looked up to Katara who looked panicked. Knowing this rare moment of getting along was over Zuko sighed and rested his head on Katara's stomach.

"I'm getting ready I'll be there in a little bit, go ahead without me!" Katara yelled back. Though both still aroused they knew they had to stop. Zuko rolled off of Katara so he was laying next to her. He handed her back her wrap so she could fix her robe. They stood and adjusted so they'd be presentable for dinner. Zuko watched Katara as she fixed her hair in the mirror by her bed.

"Come back to the room" Zuko said.

Katara turned and looked at him. "Okay"

Zuko smiled smally, "I'll have the servants put your things back while we are at dinner."

* * *

Katara had no idea what to expect tonight. She was ready to pack her bags completely and go home to her water tribe after the fight her and Zuko had but then when he apologized to her he looked genuinely scared that she'd not accept it. Then the kiss. That kiss. Then how he touched her. Zuko. She had let Zuko touch her and kiss her. She hated for not stopping him when she was still kind of mad with him, she was more mad though at how much she had liked it.

When Zuko asked her to move back into the room she didn't dare say no. She hasn't slept at all the last two nights. She hadn't realized how cold fire nation nights got when you didn't have a firebender holding you close in his sleep. She wasn't sure what was happening with there relationship anymore but she knew, she had to see it through if she wanted to make their marriage work eventually.

Dinner was uneventful. Iroh and Ursa's "news" was that they'd finally found a wedding planner to help Katara and Zuko start planning and they were to start once she arrived. Katara couldn't wait to get back to the room so her and Zuko could talk about what had happened in the spare room earlier.

Once to the room Kataras heart started beating faster. She didn't know if Zuko wanted to talk or start up where they left off earlier. She watched as Zuko opened the door for her. She walked into the room wondering if Zuko, Zuko of all people, could hear what he was doing to her heart.

As soon as Katara heard the door shut she turned "Zuko I..." His lips were on hers instantly. It was like the kiss on the bed. Strong, craving, sexy. Katara had a feeling this was going to go to far and yet she didn't want to stop. His hands felt amazing on her body and his lips were so full against hers. She could feel him leaning her towards their bed. Getting his hint she jumped in his arms and wrapped her legs around his waist. Screw it we can talk after.

Katara felt her back hit the bed. She watched as Zuko took off his shirt and kick off his shoes. Katara did the same kicking off her flats and started to take off her leggings. When she looked at Zuko she saw something she'd never seen before in his eyes. Lust. She also noticed a growth in his pants. Zuko got on top of the bed, and crawled on top of Katara. She could feel him pressed against her thigh and it started to arouse her. Zuko unwrapped her robe and kissed down her throat to the bindings atop her breasts again. Katara closed her eyes and moaned at his touch.

Zuko was always such an intense person in everything he did. But with this, he was so soft, yet so craving. It was perfection on her body. She felt him taking off her bindings to expose her breasts. He kissed in between them before moving his lips along the side of the right mound moving his tongue teasing around her nipple making it harder once he put it into his mouth. His other hand was trailing her body down to her panties rubbing her hip bone then playing with the edge of the material.

Not being able to take it anymore Katara flipped them removing all her clothing before standing up and taking the rest of Zuko's off revealing everything she imagined being under those towels. His shaft was large and very hard, it only made her want him more. She crawled back on top of the bed laying her body over his again and attacking her lips to his. It was like training. They both worked to have the upper hand but had a perfect balance and movement to the other. Zuko broke the kiss, both of them panting from lack of breathe. He looked her in the eyes, both hands cupping her face.

"Katara, I want you" He said softly. Almost like he was asking her permission. To answer Katara moved her hand behind his neck and began rolling to her side. Zuko followed her movements, he sat up on his knees taking her in. He couldn't wait anymore he had to have her. He spread her legs with his knees before grabbing a hold of his member and slowly moving in to her making sure not to hurt her. Katara released a glorious moan and started moving her hips to get Zuko to move in her. He listened and began to pick up his pace.

"Faster" She moaned. Zuko began thrusting into her with all his might. Katara began moaning louder rocking her hips into him to allow him to get deeper. She covered her mouth to muffle the sound.

"Katara" Zuko moaned so close to the edge.

"Zuko. Zuko. Oh my. Ahhh" Katara moaned climaxing. The pressure of her walls contracting on him made Zuko explode inside her. His entire body felt this amazing sensation as he felt his orgasm cover his entire body. He relaxed into her body for a second to catch his breath before pulling out of her and rolling onto his side of the bed.

Katara and Zuko were panting under the covers on their backs. The sex was amazing. Katara hated to admit but it had felt amazing. The most she had liked Zuko ever.

"I didn't... hurt you... did I?" Zuko said in between breaths.

"Um Zuko I um, I'm not a virgin." Katara said turning to look at him.

Zuko turned and looked at her. She half expected him to be angry as a woman is supposed to stay pure until she is married. "Me either." He said sheepishly.

Katara started laughing. Zuko stared at her for a moment before he joined her.

"Let me guess you knew you'd be finding out who you were getting married to so you had sex with someone because it was your choice and not your parents?" Katara asked.

"Yeah, essentially, most of the men in the history of our family always have concubines. Uncle told me him and father went to the whore house before they met my mother and aunt so they wouldn't feel like they missed anything once they were married."

"So you had sex with a random girl so you wouldn't have whores during our marriage?" Katara asked raising an eyebrow at him.

"What girl do I know besides my sisters, you, and all your friends you've all brought to the island?" Zuko said slightly defensive, "Did you know who you had sex with?"

"Of course I did" Katara said leaning up on her elbow.

"Who? Do you still see him? Do you talk to him?" Zuko said sitting up letting the sheet fall to his waist.

"That's none of your business." Katara said sitting up to look him in the eye. She realized she was still naked and her breasts were exposed to him. Zuko stared at her breast for a second before responding.

"I am your future husband, It is my business. Tell me." He said leaning toward her.

Katara was confused they were arguing but she could see he was getting turned on again.

"No, Zuko, I don't need to tell you anything. Stop looking at me like that. You really think you yelling at me to do as you say as if i'm the whore you had sex with is going to make me want to have sex with you again?" Katara yelled at him.

Zuko grabbed her arm and pulled her to him so she was sitting on his lap. Kataras legs were on either side of his hips she could see his erection. Though she didn't want to, she was getting turned on. Zuko moved both of his hands to Katara's hips.

"What about me yelling at you has turned you on?" Katara said with her hands on his chest.

Zuko moved Katara with his hands on her and pushed his erection into her wet core. Katara moaned at the sensation of him inside her again. Zuko guided her hips in a rocking motion while she was on top of him. The feeling was amazing to Katara but she wanted more. Katara grabbed Zukos hand and pinned them up above his head. Zuko looked at her surprised by her sudden movement to take charge, then with her courage she started moving faster against him. Zuko released a moan that sparked inside of Katara. The first time had been passionate and sweet but this was being fueled by their normal feelings for each other, anger. As they were about to learn anger sex was incredibly therapeutic for them.

* * *

Zuko woke to the feeling of the sun on his skin. He squinted and realized they had not closed the curtains. Zuko went to move to shut the curtain, but realized Katara was sleeping on his chest. They'd fought all night. About who Katara's first was, about who Zuko's was, about their plans for the wedding, tomorrow, the tour of the school, everything. Which meant for some reason one of them would start to get turned on and they'd have sex again. The sex.

Zuko couldn't believe that the waterbender he'd been forced to spend his summers with was doing these things to his body now. He never imagined he'd have these thoughts about her. Looking down at her now he could see everything. She had kicked off all the sheets and was fully exposed to him. He could see her long muscled legs up to her thighs. Her perfect tanned skin looked soft and Zuko just wanted to run his hands all over her. Her ass was perfect. Women in the fire nation weren't built like Katara. She had curves he'd never seen on any woman before.

Katara stirred slightly and flipped over onto her back. Zuko took the opportunity to close the curtains. He used his firebending to light a few candles in the room so he could still see her. After lighting the last one. Zuko turned to go back to bed and got distracted by looking at her naked body laying in his bed. Their bed. They had sex 7 times last night. Zuko was still exhausted, normally the sun rising would mean the start of his day but looking at Katara now and remembering last night Zuko just wanted to stay in bed with her all day.

Katara was still asleep on her back, her right arm laying across her stomach, giving a great view of her breasts and an even better view of her vagina. Without thinking it through Zuko got back onto the bed from the bottom and put his face right to her thighs. Laying soft kisses as he got closer to his goal. Moving her legs so he had an even better access Zuko got bold and kissed her entrance. Katara stirred ever so slightly. Zuko decided to up his game and started to lick her clit. Soft at first, but upon realizing how good she tasted, Zuko kept going. Katara was getting wet, and Zuko loved it, he slid two fingers into her as he kept licking and kissing her clit. Zuko felt a hand curl into his hair. He glanced up to see Katara awake, eyes looking at the ceiling. Zuko wanted to have a little fun before he went back to sleep. He was going to make Katara cum so hard they'd sleep the rest of the day away.

* * *

Hope you enjoyed this! I can't wait to post the next couple chapters for you guys to see the chaos of this couple. Reviews are cookies and I'd really love some more. I love all feedback !


	9. Chapter 9

Hello friends :) Here is another chapter for you amazing people

* * *

Katara woke hours after Zuko's little morning surprise, exhausted. Her body felt like she had been training for a full day. She had no idea how they were going to get through training they had later today after lunch. Her body felt numb. She was laying on her side and Zuko was holding her how he normally did, arm around her waist and his head buried into her neck and shoulder blades.

Katara slide out from under him and walked to her closet and grabbed her blue silk sleeping robe. She walked into the bathroom to fix her hair and wash her face. When she walked out she saw Zuko's ass before it disappeared behind the cloth of his pants he was pulling on. Zuko turned to see Katara. He had his small smile on his face, which made Katara blush.

"Morning" Zuko said in a raspy morning voice.

"Morning" Katara had not realized how sore her throat was. They spent all night yelling at each other about stupid things and then yelling or moaning at other things.

"We" they both said at the same time. They smiled at each other.

" We need to talk about yesterday." Katara said.

"Yeah we do." Zuko responded sitting on the bed.

"I still don't really like you or the idea that I have to marry you but I do really like the um" Katara started.

"Yeah that part is perfect" Both teens blushed. "I know, I don't really know what came over me yesterday outside that room or what started inside ours. Then we were in here and I didn't want to think about anything and I just wanted to know what it felt like to be with my future wife."

"Yeah that part was fun, I'm sorry I didn't tell you who I was with, it doesn't really matter now as I'll never see him again. It was just some guy from my tribe, I didn't even like him but I knew he liked me. But why did you keep starting to have sex with me when we'd start fighting?" Katara said feeling bad for withholding things from Zuko but curious how the fight sex started.

" I don't know, normally when we fight I lose control of my bending or we start attacking each other or yelling more but something in me just wanted to shut you up with a little more pleasure then how we normally fight. After we'd have sex it felt so nice and then you'd start fighting with me again and I liked how it felt the first time so I just kept doing it."

Katara knew what he meant. In a weird way when they started having sex after fighting she could take her frustration out on him physically while getting her own pleasure. She walked over to him and put her hand on both of his shoulders. Zuko looked up at her from his position on the bed and placed his hands on her hips and pulled her towards him.

"And this morning?" Katara asked playing with a piece of his hair.

Zuko smiled "You were naked in the bed" he moved his right hand under her robe so he was touching her skin right under her ass.

"Is that all it takes to get you?" Katara laughed.

"Pretty much" Zuko smiled back and slide his hand so it was cupping her ass. He pulled her closer so she was pressed against his chest. Katara leaned down to kiss him until a knock broke them apart.

"Prince Zuko, the Fire Lord is requesting you and Lady Katara attend lunch. Now he said."

Zuko fell back onto the bed and put both his hands on his face "We will be there in a moment."

Katara had forgotten all about the world outside of their bedroom. " I guess it's back to reality"

Zuko stood up and hugged Katara. "Yeah I guess so. Let's get ready. I'm sure Father is already mad about us being late. Can't keep him waiting too long." The young couple got dressed and headed to the dining hall together. Once there they saw everyone sitting and eating. There were two seats left, one next to his father, an empty seat next to that and then Iroh. Zuko sat down next to his father with Katara sitting down next to him.

"Did you two sleep well? You seemed to have slept very late today" Ursa asked them.

"Yes we did, we were up late discussing wedding details." Katara answered.

"Glad to see you moved back into the room Katara, I assume my son apologized for whatever he did wrong." Ozai said shooting his son a look.

"We both apologized sir. Trying to get along for the sake of the nations got a little stressful but we are good now." Katara said back defending Zuko slightly she looked at Zuko who gave her a small smile.

"Are you two getting along? Did one of you poison the other?" Azula asked stunned.

"Azula!" Ursa said giving her eldest daughter a stern look.

"What? We are all thinking it, when have they ever smiled at each other without one of them secretly attacking the other?" She responded.

Katara laughed, "Well we are getting along today. Don't hold your breath for later, there's plenty of hours left in the day for one of us to attack the other."

"Well we have training today after lunch so there will be some attacking." Zuko smiled at her.

"You two getting along is gross. I think I miss the fighting." Toph said

"I like it" Sozi said. Looking at Katara and giving her a small smile.

"As do I, it's about time you two grew up" Ozai said. "Well I must be off more meetings today, Zuko your Uncle will train with you today. I do hope you finally master that skill so we can move ahead with your training. At this point Azula will pass you."

Katara saw Zuko's fist under the table clench " Of course father" Azula, Sozi, and Toph all looked down at their rice bowls, and Ursa was shooting her husband a look.

How have I never noticed how hard Ozai is on Zuko? Katara placed her hand on Zuko's fist. He instantly relaxed at her touch. Iroh witnessed the whole thing with a huge smile.

"Well I think I will head to the practice field and prepare, children if you'd join me once you are all finished." Iroh said as he got up and left the room.

Zuko finished his meal in silence while the girls all chatted.

"Mother could Ty Lee come for dinner and spend the night?" Azula asked

"Of course dear, and Sozi a hawk arrived today that Aang and Gyatso will be coming this week with Haru and Teo." Ursa said.

Sozi blushed. Toph laughed "Sozi has a crush"

"I do not!"

"Yes you do I can feel your heart rate remember, at the sound of his name you freak out. Admit it you like him" Toph crossed her arms and looked toward Sozi.

"Shut up Toph" Sozi yelled at her.

"You shut up" Toph said sticking her tongue out.

"Girls, enough. Go get ready for training." Ursa said staring at her daughters.

"Yes mother" Sozi and Toph said getting up and going to their rooms.

Azula followed behind her little sisters. Finally it was just Zuko, Katara, and Ursa left in the dining hall. Katara had finished her food as had Zuko but neither was ready to leave. Zuko still clearly upset about his father's comment and Katara still tired from the night befores "training".

"Sweetheart, don't let your father upset you, he's just trying to get you prepared to be Fire Lord. I know his methods are harsh but he means well."

"I know mom, dad doesn't want me to be weak because this war could get worse at any moment and my duty is to protect my nation," Zuko stood "I need to go train with Uncle" He leaned and kissed Katara on the temple without realizing it. They both blushed incredibly bright. They hadn't shown affection in front of anyone yet.

Ursa smiled a knowing smile, "Well, I hope training goes well, you two have a goodnight, your father and I won't be at dinner tonight as we have a meeting with the Jong family." She stood and left.

"I have no idea where that came from" Zuko said helping Katara stand.

"It's okay, I'm sorry your dad was so mean to you" Katara said looking up at his eyes.

"He wasn't being mean, he's right. My bending isn't where it should be and I should be embarrassed that my younger sister is creeping up on me in skill." Zuko said with pain in his eyes. "Let's go get ready to train."

They walked back to their room in silence. Katara noticed walking was a little painful. Clearly her and Zuko would need to pace themselves at night. Once to the room Zuko took his shirt off and grabbed a pair of pants out of his closet and went to the bathroom to change. Katara changed in the bedroom into her training breast wraps and a pair of baggy red workout pants and boots. She decided to put a red midriff top on over her wrappings. Zuko emerged with his training pants on and boots he wore to walk to the area and still no shirt.

Katara has always admired Zuko's chest, he worked out a lot so he was in great shape and his muscle tone was hard to ignore. But now that she knew what it felt like to touch that chest she had slightly different feelings towards Zuko being topless.

"Ready?" Zuko asked.

"Yeah, I think i'm going to take it easy today, I'm still pretty worn out from um, yesterday." she blushed.

Zuko smiled. "Oh, what happened yesterday?" He said as he walked toward her. He had this cocky look on his face that annoyed Katara.

"Don't give me that look Zuko. Like you aren't tired too." Katara crossed her arms and glared at Zuko. He just smiled and kept walking toward her. When he was close enough they could touch each other Katara put her hand up and stopped him. "Listen jackass, having sex with me when i'm angry with you may have worked for you last night but today we have things to do and your cockiness is really aggravating so I will see you on the field."

With that Katara stormed out of the room, "Katara are you seriously mad at me?" Zuko said following her down the hall.

"Yes, don't act like you are this almighty being because i'm a little tired from activities last night. It wasn't that good." Katara sneered.

Zuko grabbed her arm and made her turn to him. "It was and you know it." he said then let go of her and walked in front of her to the field.

Katara yelled in frustration then walked outside to the field. The girls were already there with the two firebending masters for Azula and Sozi. Iroh was drinking tea with Toph. Haru would be arriving back to the palace soon so Toph would have someone to work with as would the northern water tribe master to help Katara. Until then the two did individual studies or battled lightly with each other. Zuko walked over to Iroh and kicked off his boots to begin his own training.

Katara decided to work on some harder skills in spite of Zuko's cockiness. She walked over to the lake the field was attached to and stood in the shallow end. She loved the feeling of the water on her skin. She started with some warm ups and then slowly progressed into harder skills. Her first attempt she messed up her landing and fell into the water. By her 5th attempt she was landing it but the water wasn't very steady. She was already panting from exhaustion.

"ZUKO! How do you expect to be the Fire Lord if you can't even do a medium level skill!" Katara turned to see Ozai in the courtyard next to the field. He was seething when he saw Zuko. Zuko immediately stood and bowed to his father. Katara watched as his sisters glanced in their direction then pretended to go back to their own trainings but still keeping an eye on their father yelling at their big brother.

"You're to slow on the leap and your fire isn't strong enough. Iroh what are you teaching him?" Ozai commanded.

"Balance, little brother, if he doesn't learn the move before he executes he could hurt himself. Let me train him my way, as you recall the same way I trained you to do this move. Worry yourself not little brother." Iroh responded. Katara could see Ozai fuming and Zuko was clearly beating himself up.

"Do it again, full force" Ozai command.

"Ozai he isn't.." Iroh was cut off.

"NOW" Ozai yelled.

Katara knew Zuko wasn't focusing correctly and he wasn't going to be able to land the move and produce the fire to appease his father. She didn't want him to get hurt and she didn't think before she yelled it just came out.

"No! If he's not ready he's not ready."

Everyone turned to look at her. Iroh had a small smile on his face knowing she was protecting him. Toph, Sozi, and Azula looked from her to their father. Ozai was glaring at her but calmed when he saw her face, but Zuko, Zuko was fuming. Katara was worried she'd over stepped but she didn't want Zuko to prove himself and hurt himself. Despite her call. Zuko ran to do the move anyway. Everyone watched while holding their breath. Zuko jumped in the air and did his twist letting go of all his might to produce the fire. He landed, not great but he did land.

"Have that mastered by tomorrow." Ozai said and then left. Zuko glared at Katara once more before turning away. He didn't look at her the rest of the evening.

After training he didn't walk her back to their room. Katara walked back alone. When she opened the door she saw Zuko was pacing the room. Katara watched him for a moment then shut the door. Hearing the door Zuko stopped and looked at her.

"Zuko I..." Katara started.

"Don't ever do that again" he yelled at her.

" What?" she asked confused.

"How dare you step in. Don't undermine me in front of my father. I can handle myself!" Zuko yelled back.

Katara was fuming, "You could've hurt yourself! I'm sorry that I stood up for you!"

"I didn't need your help. I did the move. You don't know anything about firebending. I already have my father doubting me I don't need you to join him." Zuko yelled taking a step toward her.

"I didn't doubt you! I don't know why you are overreacting!" Katara yelled taking steps up to Zuko.

"You embarrassed me in front of everyone! I am a man, I don't need some waterbender putting in her input on firebender techniques. Just be like a normal woman and speak when spoken to." Zuko was starting to get so angry his skin was burning up.

"DON'T YOU DARE! I am not some slave to you. I will NOT be a perfect little wife who does as she is told. If I want to speak I will fucking speak." Katara jabbed her finger on Zuko's grabbed her by the wrist. She looked up at his face and he was still furious but his eyes said otherwise.

"No. No way. You don't get to try and end this by fucking me Zuko."

"Shut up." Zuko said before he attacked Katara's lips with his own. Before she could protest he had her pressed against their bedroom door. He grabbed her ass and pushed her up so she would wrap her legs around his waist. Once she did Zuko grabbed both her wrists and pinned them to the wall. She could tell this would be rough, hard, and fast sex.

The laid on the floor in front of the door unable to move.

"Don't. Even. Try. To say. That. Wasn't. Good." Zuko said still holding onto Katara's hand.

"Fine." Katara said just as breathless. She turned to cuddle into his side. "But now I really can't move but I am starved and I don't want to go to the dining hall." Zuko sat up and picked up Katara and walked her over to their bed. He set her down and handed her her favorite blue robe. He walked to his dresser and grabbed a pair of pants and slid them on. He gave her a quick peck on the lips.

"I'll have a servant bring us some food. Any requests?" Zuko asked leaning over her.

"Some fruit, I need some energy." Katara smiled. He gave her one more kiss then walked out of their room. Katara sat up so she could put the robe on. If only her and Zuko got along this well all the time instead of just when they were naked. Katara laughed to herself at the idea of showing Zuko her boobs everytime they talked so the conversation would go well.

A moment later Zuko returned to the room. He smiled at Katara and crossed the room to sit next to her on the bed.

" What do you want to do tonight?" Zuko asked.

Katara thought for a moment, "Let's talk. If we are going to be married in a month we should know each other a little better than what we know from our summers together."

Zuko looked at her, "Okay, I guess that makes sense what do you want to talk about first?" Zuko turned so he was facing her on the bed.

"How about what you did when you weren't on the island?" Katara asked.

"Well I spend a lot of time with my mother by the pond feeding turtle ducks. I liked practicing my swords, and occasionally I didn't mind hanging out with my sisters. You?"

" Playing with the tribes kids, helping my mother and gran-gran in the nursery, and hanging out with Sokka. Now you ask." There was a knock at the door and Zuko got up to retrieve the food.

He returned with an arrangement of foods. "Ok, um what was your favorite part about the nursery?" Katara ate a grape before she answered.

"The innocence. None of those babies know what kind of difficult world they are about to be raised in. They look so genuinely happy and at peace." Katara smiled sadly. This war is splitting everyone around her. Her to the Fire Nation, Sozi to the Air temples, and the Avatar had yet to be found. The air nomads knew who it was but none of them were announcing it. Aang said they hadn't even revealed it to whoever it was. Normally its custom that the Avatar find out at the age of 16 and whoever it was, was only 12 at this point, but the other leaders didn't think they should wait 4 more years of this war before they began training.

"My mom said that was her grandfather Roku's favorite thing about babies." Zuko said.

"I still can't believe you are the great grandson of the last Avatar, was your moms father a bender?" Katara asked.

"No, none of my great grandfathers children were benders and my mom is the only one of the next generation, so I was the first bender of that lineage to be one." Zuko said.

"So that's why you put so much pressure on yourself to be a great bender. You know you are only 17 Zuko, you have time to be a master." Katara grabbed Zuko's hand.

"I know. I'm sorry I got so mad at you earlier. I just wanted to prove my dad that I'm worthy and then you were braver than me and spoke against him. But it felt against me and I know normally it wouldn't have bothered me but after yesterday I thought you'd be more on my side and I just got so angry."

"I'm sorry Zuko, you're right, as husband and wife we'll need to be on each others team. I didn't mean to make you feel that way. And I'm sorry for that comment earlier that you weren't that good. I was just annoyed that you were being so egotistical about it." Katara felt Zuko pull her closer. "I'm so confused about us right now."

"I know, me too, but we should just go with it until we figure it all out. If we like each other or if we just like being naked with each other. At least we know we wont have problem making heirs." He laughed when Katara playful pushed him. Zuko stood up to move the tray to the table outside their room for someone to pick up. Then locked the door and walked over to close the curtains and then climbed into bed with her.

They laid facing each other, Katara rested her hand on Zuko's chest and followed each line and ab definition with her finger, Zuko moaned softly at the motion and then began to play with her hair. If only they could stay in this room forever. In here they weren't confused about each other and they didn't hide the undefined feelings they had. It was still hard but much easier then it was out there beyond their bedroom door.

Zuko moved his hand to Katara's neck and touched the engagement necklace. They clearly were thinking the same thing.

"You know, I think this is the most we have ever gotten along in 12 years." Katara said.

Zuko smiled back, "I think you are right. Who knows maybe if we had given each other a shot when we were kids we'd be as happy about the engagement as Sozi and Aang."

"I don't know, they are perfect together. Something tells me even if our fathers hadn't made the arrangement they'd still would've ended up together. Like soulmates." Katara rolled over onto her back and looked at the ceiling.

"I'm sorry." Zuko sighed.

"What, Why?" Katara said looking at him with confusion.

"I'm sorry you'll never be with your soulmate, who ever he is."

Katara sat up, "You won't either, but at least if I had to be married to someone at least it's the grumpy firebender I've fought with my entire life"

Zuko sat up giving her a smirk," Very true, I mean if I had to be stuck with a stubborn know-it-all waterbender at least it's the one who puked on me when she was 8."

Katara pushed Zuko "Hey! You and Azula made me eat that weird fire nation fruit, that was karma!"

"You didn't have to eat it and Sokka ate it and he was fine!"Zuko laughed grabbing her hands to stop her from punching him.

"Zuko! Sokka's stomach can digest anything I'm pretty sure he has two stomachs at this point."

They both started laughing.

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:) Oh Zutara is so fun to write. Hope you enjoyed. Leave a review and let me know!


	10. Chapter 10

IM BACK! Guys im so sorry this took a month. My laptop broke, I started back at work part time which was super hard leaving my 4 month old. This chapter isn't crazy long but I promise the next ones will be I just wanted to make sure you guys got a little something after this crazy long wait. Enjoy !

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"And this is the lake that we'd like to move our lunch area too. Make it big enough for both indoor seating and outdoor seating." Master Hinata explained as he and Katara followed him to a big empty field. Zuko was bored out of his mind. He could tell Katara was really paying attention to everything the man said. Zuko had never even seen this school until today. It was already so huge he didn't see the point in making it any bigger.

"So this is the private school, where is the public school?" Katara asked. At that Hinata frowned. Zuko wasn't sure why as he ran both schools.

"That is down the hill. To be honest Lady Katara, I want the expansion of the private school so that I may combine the two. But they'd never approve it if I proposed the expansion that way. I plan to combine the two schools and turn the old school into a training academy." Katara nodded her head.

"How would the public school families afford to attend the private school?" Zuko asked.

" There wouldn't be a fee to attend anymore." Hinata responded.

"You think the current families paying will be okay with this?" Zuko wasn't sure this plan would work. The private academy was for higher class children. Like Ty Lee and her sisters or even Mai. If Mai's father thought his daughter was in school next to a fisherman's daughter he'd explode.

"It will take an adjustment, but I have spoken with a few of the major donors to the school and they are okay with it. " Master Hinata said.

"The way the world is right now, is it worth it to seperate the educational values? In the water tribes we learn together. Sokka and I never had private lessons. It was important to our father that we were with everyone in the village. I think the councils children would learn a lot being with the working class family." Katara seemed to be very passionate about this. Zuko smiled at her. Her passion for everything was something Zuko always liked about her.

They continued to walk the grounds and Zuko actually listened this time. At the end of the tour they bowed to the master and got into their carriage to lead them back to the palace for their next meeting. Today was their first meeting with the wedding planner. Zuko didn't care for the planning. He wasn't a fan of deciding what flowers they should have or the color scheme.

Zuko looked over at Katara and smiled. She was staring outside taking everything in. She was wearing a long skirt with slits in it which is why she wore a pair of light pants underneath and a midriff top that only had one shoulder strap. She was wearing her engagement necklace and few other gold bracelets. She had a crown in her hair that matched his sisters. It was so strange seeing her in a fire nation crown.

They'd been having a strange few days. They continued to fight and not get along most of the day but once they were alone in their room they'd start to really get along. It had become a weird routine for them. Wake up naked in each others arms, get dressed, go to breakfast, go to lessons/meetings, lunch, training, free time ignoring each other, dinner, then to their room to get naked, and repeat.

It was working for the most part. It was easy keeping it from everyone since they still annoyed each other. They didn't want to say anything to anyone until they figured it out. Also they'd get in huge trouble if anyone knew they were partaking in premarital sex.

"So you ready to start planning the wedding of the year?" Zuko said breaking Katara's thoughts.

"Oh yes. It'll be the social event of the year. One to be talked about for the next century." Katara rolled her eyes.

"I've heard this woman can be a handful." Zuko responded.

"Most event planners are. I remember the woman in the northern village who planned Yue's wedding was a pain in the ass." Katara laughed thinking of her fellow water tribe princess in the sister tribe.

The carriage began to slow down as they approached the wall. The rumbling of the rock wall moving was so loud neither spoke as they wouldn't have been able to hear each other. The carriage pulled forward and within a few minutes the teens were at the front steps. Zuko opened the door to the carriage and let Katara out first. He followed her up the steps and say his mother and Uncle waiting for them.

"How was your tour of the school?" Ursa asked.

"Enlightening." Katara responded with a smile.

"How do you feel about Master Hinata's plan?" Uncle asked.

"It'll be hard adjustment but I think it's the best for this nation's growth." Zuko told his Uncle.

"I'm glad you feel that way because we will need support from the entire royal family to get the council on board with this change." Iroh smiled.

They walked into the palace each quietly chatting, Zuko with his Uncle and Katara with Ursa. Once to the great hall Ursa stopped.

"Ichika is in here, have fun you two." Ursa smiled and then walked down the adjacent hall with Iroh.

Katara walked in first nerves complete shaken. Zuko had heard stories of this woman and how she was very good at what she did but a little... off. As the two walked further into the room they saw at the end of the room was Ichika with multiple scrolls hanging and even more laid out in front of her. She was looking between two hanging scrolls very intently, Zuko could hear her muttering to herself.

"Sit sit. We have much to discuss today." She said not even turning to look at them.

Zuko was over this. They had been in this hall for almost 3 hours. He could tell Katara was also bored. His stomach had been freaking out for the last half hour. They hadn't made it to breakfast this morning and now the were missing lunch.

"Can we take a break? Go eat something then come back with a fresh mind." Katara said breaking Ichika's sentence. She turned and stared at the two of them thinking it over for a moment.

"Fine, go. be back within an hour. We need to finish this today. I'm a busy woman and don't want to be here longer than needed."

Zuko rolled his eyes and stood to leave the hall. They had been going back and forth for who knows how long about which flowers to use in the ceremony versus which ones to use for the reception and the dinner. Zuko truly did not care and he could tell Katara was just trying to get through it. He could see she was trying to respect the fire nation traditions but wanted a part of her own traditions in the wedding as well which Ichika was clearly not interested in.

Once to the dinning hall they saw just Iroh and Sozi inside sipping at tea. Zuko's stomach growled louder at the thought of no food. Katara walked over and sat next to Sozi. Zuko sat across from her next to his uncle. A servant walked in and filled their cups with tea.

"Prince Zuko the chef is preparing you and Lady Katara more food it'll just be a few more moments." He said before bowing and leaving through the kitchen doors.

"So how is planning going?" Iroh asked before sipping at his tea.

"Awful, she drones on and on about details I didn't even know mattered. Then when one of us tries to answer her questions she snaps over us and gives in her own answer. I can't tell if this is our wedding or hers." Zuko said sighing loudly.

"She has a vision. I'm pretty sure she just wants us to go with it." Katara added in a sad voice.

"We are only getting married once, you deserve to have your traditions in the wedding too" Zuko said looking at her. Katara gave him a small smile.

The food came out and two began to dive in starving from their already full day. After eating they started back for the hall, as slowly as possible. Zuko moved the curtain aside so Katara could walk in first. He followed behind her and saw Ichika was already at her scrolls writing down things.

The two sat and she immediately started up again. She asked about color of flowers in each area of the ceremony and reception. As Katara spoke up to say she wanted a blue orchid found only in the poles She shut her down and said it would clash. Annoyed Zuko finally stepped in.

"If the Lady wants a blue orchid for her wedding she will have the orchid." Ichika looked at him and narrowed his eyes.

"Prince Zuko, those flowers are an incredibly high maintenance flower. To get them here and keep them alive would be a daunting task."

"Well for what we are paying you and how highly recommend you are I would assume that wouldn't be a problem. Or should we find someone not afraid of a challenge?"

She huffed and then finally agreed. "Also you will be bringing in the chef from the southern tribe to cook traditional meals from Katara's nation. The point of this wedding is the bringing together of nations, not washing out the fact that Katara is from the water tribes."

After that Ichika's way of doing things changed slightly. She was still bossy but she was listening better. After an hour they had finally called it a day. Ichika ran out of the room to start sending messenger hawks to get supplies. Zuko again began to pull the curtain to the side to let Katara go first but he felt her tug at the side of his robe pulling him to face her. Before he could ask what she wanted her lips were on his. His right hand let go of the curtain and he moved it immediately to her hips pulling her into him.

The kiss was strong and passionate. Her hands were resting on his lower stomach which she knew drove him wild. Zuko knew exactly what she was doing so he broke the kiss, gasping for air to catch his breath, grabbed her hand and started for their bedroom.

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Wedding is coming! Hope you guys enjoyed this quickie, reviews are always loved. I hope to have the next chapter up within a week :)


	11. Update

Hello everyone,

I just wanted to give you a little update on why it's been so long since I have been able to update. My last update I found out I was pregnant with my second baby. Life got pretty hectic trying to get ready for having two under two.

At my 20 week check in December, I found out out I was having another boy and sadly that afternoon he was born sleeping. I've been struggling to get back to normal life after losing him and I promise I will return to this story but I just need a little more time before I'm ready to truly come back and give it justice.

Thank you so much for your patience and the support I've received for this story.


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